Broken Open
by ohmyakito
Summary: FAX.  Max and Fang had it all, until they broke up. Now, 7 years after their relationship, they are back in each others lives. How do they cope living with their unresolved and rekindled love, and more importantly, with Max's children? FutureFic, pre-MAX.
1. Chapter 1

**[Hi! Just a little background info before we begin. I came up with the idea for this story before MAX came out, so this is kind of parallel to what would've happened if the 5th, 6th, and 7th Maximum Ride books were never published. So for those who are new to the series, you don't have to be caught up with all 7 books to understand what's going on! **

**This takes place 11 years after the books, so Max, Fang, and Iggy are 25, Nudge is 22, Gazzy is 19, and Angel is 17. The flashbacks start when they are the same ages as they are in the beginning of the series, so Max, Fang, and Iggy are 14, Nudge is 11, Gazzy is 8, and Angel is 6. Hopefully this isn't too confusing, but if you have any questions, please feel free to ask!**

**Enjoy!]**

**Chapter One:**

"Hey, Fang," the Gasman said as I walked up to him.

"Hey," I said, dropping my duffel bag to my hand. I could feel the receptionist's gaze on me. I guess my I'm-not-interested vibes weren't strong enough.

"See anyone else yet?" Gazzy asked.

"No, I just got here." I looked around. "Why are sitting here by yourself?"

Gazzy smiled. "Waiting for a girl."

"Good luck with that," I replied, trying not to roll my eyes.

"Thanks. So, anyone you're here with?" he asked, a little too curious.

"No." It was a little harsh, but I really couldn't think about that right now.

Gazzy gave me a sideways glance. "Whatever. In case you're wondering, Iggy took Angel and Nudge to lunch. Probably won't be back for a while. Ella's with some friends. I chose not to go with either of them. I mean, Ella's friends are way hot, but that's just way too much estrogen for me."

I nodded and restrained myself from asking about Max. I probably didn't want to know.

"I'm gonna head up to our room," I said.

"Alright. Oh, but just to let you know, I let someone in before and I think she's still there. See, Angel and I were here last night, but her room isn't ready until three and she was wiped from the plane ride, so I told her she could crash in our room. So just don't go charging in like an elephant."

"Ok," I said, wondering what had compelled him to compare me to an elephant. "Who is it?" I just hoped it wasn't some random hooker Gaz decided was cheap enough to stay in our room, because that would totally be something he would do.

Just then, a girl walked up to us. "Hey Zach," she said, looking at Gazzy. "Ready to go?"

"Yup," he said, then turned to me. "Catch you later."

"Wait," I said as he stood up. "Who's in our room?" But he was already walking away.

I sighed and made my way towards the elevator. There was no way I was carrying this eighty-ton duffel bag up six flights of stairs.

The elevator reached my floor and I stepped out, grateful to be away from the whiny toddler traveling up to his room. I was glad the room was close by; I needed to get the new article I didn't start in by tonight.

I slipped the plastic key into the lock, heard it click, and pushed open the door. Sure enough, a woman was sleeping on the bed farthest away from the door. She had wavy light brown hair, and something about her was familiar.

In her arms was a young girl, who looked about six, with short dark brown hair. She was sleeping with her mouth wide open.

Next to the bed was a foldable play-pen thing, and inside was another sleeping child. I wasn't close enough to see more than that.

I dropped my two bags on the bed and went to hang up my neat and ironed clothes in the closet without bothering to take them out of the bag. I would unpack the rest of my stuff later. A feeling of anxiety washed over me, for reasons I didn't know, but I brushed it off.

The little girl stirred as I shut the door a little too loudly, causing the woman to move as well. As her hair slid off her face and down her neck, my breath caught.

It was Max.

Except something about her wasn't Max. Her hair was longer and darker than it has ever been before and she had gained some weight. But the biggest difference was the way she laid there, not relaxed, but almost guarded. Or maybe protective. Like she was protecting herself, or maybe the child.

Slowly, still looking at Max, I unzipped my sweatshirt and pulled it off. I removed my laptop from the bag, unrealistically thinking I could get some work done.

Walking over the desk, I glanced at Max's face for the first time. It looked peaceful and calm, like it always did when she was sleeping.

* * *

><p><em>I looked to my left, noticing that Max had fallen asleep. I watched as her shoulders rose and fell, and lowered the volume of the TV. So much for our movie night.<em>

_I grabbed the blanket from the back of the couch, and placed it carefully across her legs. Picking up the bowl of popcorn that was wedged between us, I stood up and brought it in the kitchen. _

_Glancing at the clock, I realized it was only a little past ten. How had Max fallen asleep? Was I really that boring?_

_Walking back into the living to turn off the TV, I saw Max was sitting up, rubbing the side of her face with her palm._

"_Sorry," she mumbled. "How long was I sleeping?"_

"_I just noticed," I said, cleaning up our crumpled napkins._

"_Oh," she said. She moved over on the couch, the blanket falling onto the floor._

"_I'm so tired," she said, looking at me._

"_Yeah," I responded, not letting her know how bad I felt that she was calling the night quits._

"_Would you mind if I bailed? I just want to sleep," she said, standing up._

"_Nah," I said, as she moved the remote to the end table._

_Max stared at me for a moment then turned to walk upstairs._

"_Good night," she said softly, before stepping on the stairs._

_I watched her go, trying not to feel defeated, like she blew me off. She _did_ look tired. She probably wasn't trying to hurt my feelings, she just didn't want to watch the movie with me._

_Deciding to leave the small mess we had made until the morning, I followed her upstairs to go to my own bed and try to fall asleep._

_I passed Max's room and noticed that she was already sleeping, the covers pulled up to her chin and breathing deeply. Her back was turned towards me, so I couldn't see her face._

_Back in my own room, I sat on my own bed, thinking about how peaceful Max had looked. Recently, the house had been a little crazy with the start of school for the younger three, and Max had been stressed out about them going. I thought the movie would be a good excuse to get her mind off of things, and of course, I just wanted to hang out with her._

_But I guess it was better for Max to get some sleep, rather than sitting through a movie with me._

* * *

><p>I booted up my laptop, trying not to stare at Max. I checked out the sleeping child in the play-pen, and he looked around a year old. He had messy dark brown hair, and had his thumb in his mouth.<p>

A sound from the little girl made me look up. She was sitting up on the bed, and her eyes widened when she saw me look at her. Her hand flung out on to Max's leg and shook her hard.

"Mmm," Max mumbled, turned her head.

"Mommy," the girl whispered, which made my heart pound. _Mommy?_

"What babe?" Max mumbled again, her eyes still closed.

"There's a man in here," the girl said frantically.

Max sat up like a bullet, and wrapped her arm around the little girl. She looked towards the door, but then whipped her head around to my side of the room. When she saw me, her eyes widened, but then she visibly relaxed. Her grip on the girl loosened, but she still stared at me. I could hear the sound of my pulse in my ears.

"Mommy?" the girl whispered again.

"It's all right, sweetie. He's the man I was telling you about," Max said soothingly, taking her gaze away from mine.

"Oh," the girl said again.

I stayed quiet, not quite knowing what to do. Max smoothed down the girl's hair, and sighed before glancing at me again. She gave me a small smile, the corners of her mouth curling up. I couldn't bring myself to smile back.

It was stupid; I knew I was going to see Max. There was no possible way I could ignore her. Nor did I want to. I had even prepared what I was going to say to her. I was so ready.

But now she was here under different circumstances, and I had no idea what to say or how to feel.

Thankfully, the little girl broke the silence. "Are we still going to the pool?" she asked, looking up at Max.

"It depends what time Iggy gets back. He promised he would take you," Max responded.

The girl nodded, before rolling off of the bed. "I have to go potty."

She ran into the bathroom, Max turning her head to watch her go. Looking down at my laptop, I opened up a new document and typed my name and date at the top. I reached down into my bag to get my notebook. When I looked back up, Max was looking at me.

"Hi," she said.

"Hi."

She smiled again. "So how have you been?"

I nodded, praying I could answer nonchalantly. "Good." I opened my notebook to my last page of notes. _Don't ask about the kid_, I thought, as if not mentioning them would make them disappear. "And you?"

She sighed. "I've been good too," she said with another smile. The corner of my mouth turned up as a reflex, which made Max smile larger.

She got up off of the bed, and smoothed down the blanket she was lying on. "You really didn't need to do that," I said without thinking.

"Do what?" she asked without turning around.

"Sleep on top of the covers."

She turned around and smiled again. "I know, but I didn't want to mess up the bed for whoever was going to be sleeping here tonight."

I nodded, but she didn't see. I positioned my fingers above the keyboard, and turned my head to glance at my notes. I started typing, knowing I wasn't going to process any coherent sentences.

"What are you typing?" Max asked. I looked up, surprised.

After a moment's pause, she said, "I didn't mean to be nosy."

I blinked, confused. "No, it's ok. I'm working on an article."

"Oh, cool," she said, moving to the edge of the bed, her legs hanging over the side, palms under her knees. "About what?"

"I'm comparing America's transportation system to systems of other countries."

"Oh yeah? Sounds, um, cool."

I looked her in the eye, completely unmoved. "It's boring."

"Yeah," she agreed, smiling a little.

The bathroom door opened, and Max moved her head to the little girl in the doorway. She walked over to Max's side of the bed, and stood in front of Max. "Can you help me with my button?"

"Sure," Max said, leaning down. I shifted my eyes back to the screen, trying to get through another paragraph. However, I couldn't resist looking back up at Max, who was caring for this girl that I had no idea about.

I watched as the girl walked over to the closet, and pulled out a small purple backpack. With difficulty, she carried it in her arms, hugging it to her chest as she walked back over to Max. Looking up at her, she asked, "May I color?"

Max smiled, "Of course." Latching her hands under the girl's arms, she pulled the girl up to the bed, and unzipped the backpack, pulling out a box of crayons and a coloring book.

Feeling oddly intrusive, I looked back down at my notes. Rereading them for the zillionth time, I stared the important ones, for the fourth time today. I focused back on my screen, the cursor mocking my jumbled thoughts.

"Hey Fang," Max said, her voice drawled out, in a way that seemed vaguely familiar. "I don't think I formally introduced you too. This is Nora," Max smiled, smoothing down the girl's hair. "And Nora, this is Fang." Max looked at me, smiling, and Nora looked up at Max, then turned to me, and also smiled. Max blushed slightly, and looked back down.

I watched as the girl sprawled across the bed, lying on her stomach, gripping the crayon in her hand. I didn't notice Max was looking at me, until I moved my eyes on her. She smiled again.

I swallowed, not asking what I really wanted to know. I couldn't bring myself to say it, nor could I couldn't bear the answer.

"That's Matthew," Max said, nodding to the sleeping boy. "Or Matty, as everyone calls him."

I nodded, not knowing what else to say. I looked back at my screen, feeling Max's gaze running up my spine.

"Am I distracting you?" she asked.

I shook my head. "Not at all."

"Are you sure?" she asked slowly. I looked up at her.

"Yeah. It's an awful topic to concentrate on."

She nodded. The following awkward silence was filled by my clicking keys, and my repetitive use of backspace. Rereading my only four sentences I had, I deleted two of them, for lack of clarification.

"Mommy how do you spell Iggy?"

Out of the corner of my eye, I watched as Max leaned next to Nora, picking up a crayon and opening the coloring book to the back page.

"Like this," Max said, as she wrote Iggy's name in big, capital, block letters. "Why?"

"I made this for him. As a present," Nora said, matter-of-factly.

"That is very nice of you, sweetie," Max said, sitting back up.

She caught me watching the two of them, before I could turn away. She locked eyes on me, a mischievous smile tickling her lips. I almost wanted to roll my eyes, but I held that back.

"They're adopted, you know."

My shoulders dropped slightly, as I swallowed. "What?"

"I adopted them."

I was quiet for a moment, wrapping the idea around my head. "Adopted?" I clarified, and Max nodded. "You can do that?"

She nodded again.

"When?"

Max looked down at Nora, who was obviously listening, but concentrating on writing Iggy's name. "I adopted Nora a little over a year ago. Last July. Matthew I got a few weeks after he was born, in January."

I looked at her, not even denying the fact that she was beaming without the faintest smile on her face. Her eyes were shining, and she looked the happiest I had seen her in such a long time. I got this funny feeling in my chest that seemed distantly recognizable. I couldn't place it, so instead, I forced a slight smile.

"That's great."

She looked at me for a moment, struggling not to smile. She looked down at her lap. "I know."

The silence was awkward, the only thing filling it are the occasional tapping of my keys, as I try to get this done before we head off to dinner tonight. Nora broke the silence.

"Mommy, can you rip this page out for me?" she asked, and I looked up to see Max tearing her colored-in page out of the book. "I want to make a new one."

"All right sweetie," Max said, laying the page next to her. She looked back up at me.

"So how did you get that topic?" she asked, obviously just trying to make conversation.

I finished the sentence I was on. "I was just assigned it."

She nodded. "Do you ever get to choose?"

"Only if I come up with an idea. Since I move around a lot, I'm usually just assigned odds and ends," I clarified, and she nodded again.

The hotel room door opened, and Gazzy, Angel, and Nudge all walked in. Nudge threw her pocketbook on one of the beds.

"Look who we found in the bar," Nudge sang, slapping a hand on Gazzy's shoulder. "This one! On a date!"

I shook my head, and Max laughed. "You're underage aren't you?"

Gaz shrugged. "Only by a few years. And I only had one drink."

Max shook her head in denial. "Where's Ella and Iggy?" she asked.

"They went down to check out the ballroom for their big day tomorrow. It's being set up now. Ella just wanted to make sure everything is ok," Nudge explained.

"They said to meet us down in the lobby," Angel added.

"Yeah," Nudge started, walking over to Max. "And it's a nice restaurant we're going to so wear something presentable."

Max sighed, and nudged Nora. "Come on, let's get changed, ok? We can bring your crayons to dinner."

Max stood up, and brought her large red suitcase with her and Nora into the bathroom. "And will someone wake up Matty please?" she called out.

"I'll do it," Gaz said, dumping the contents of his pockets on the dresser.

Nudge walked over to me, wrapped both arms around my shoulders, and gave me a kiss on the cheek. "Hey, Fang," she said. "It's crazy huh?" She nodded towards the makeshift crib.

I nodded.

"How was your flight?" she asked.

"It was fine," I replied, as Angel came over to me too.

"Scootch," she said, elbowing Nudge out of the way. "Hey," she said, leaning in for a hug. "It's good to see you."

"You too Ange."

She gave me a hard stare as she pulled away, and then flashed me a wicked grin. "We'll catch up later," she promised.

The Gasman cooed softly at the baby who he was picking up from his nap, and I had to bite the inside of my mouth to keep from smiling. The boy whined a little, but rearranged himself on Gazzy's shoulder.

Angel glared at me as soon as Gazzy's back was towards us. "Don't laugh," she mouthed, and I shook my head.

Nudge whispered, "He does have a point. I mean, it's _Gazzy._"

Angel shook her head, as I watched, honestly fascinated by the effect Max's two little kids had on everyone. I wondered how I could not have possibly known about them if everyone else had already fallen in love.

The bathroom door opened and Nora sprinted out, dressed in a sundress. Max appeared behind her, pulling her hair back into a hair tie.

"Look, Nudge, Mommy's wearing a dress!" she said, pulling on the hem of Nudge's shirt. Nudge and Angel laughed, as Max took Matt from Gazzy.

"Don't worry, she'll be wearing a different one tomorrow to the wedding," Nudge said.

I took the time to shut down my laptop, as I heard Nora exclaim, "Really?"

I stood up from my chair, and Gazzy turned to me. "Are you going to change?" he asked and I nodded.

"Just my shirt," I said. I noticed Angel look at her watch.

"We're supposed to be there in five minutes," Nudge said, fixing her lip gloss in the mirror. "Why don't we go down, and can you two meet us down there?"

Max, who was sifting through a bag of clothes, waved her hand without looking up. Casually, I made my way to the closet, pretending not to care. "Yeah, that's fine. I want to get his diaper changed," Max said.

"Ok, cool," Nudge said. "Come on, Nora."

I got my already pressed shirt from the bag hanging up in the closet, and made my way into the bathroom to change. I heard Max whispering outside.

When I opened back up the door, Max was standing up, bouncing the boy on her hip, and walking around the room. "I'm just making sure I have everything," she said without even turning to look at me.

From behind, I looked at Max. She was wearing a simple brown dress and her hair was pulled into a sloppy ponytail. Holding her baby, she looked very mom like, but didn't stray at all from her Max personality. I got a funny ache in my chest, and I knew that I was already feeling regretful. I could be leaving this life with her, this very moment, but it was ruined.

Suddenly, Max twirled around and faced me. The boy was resting his head on her shoulder, a thumb in his mouth. "Ready to go?" she asked, and I nodded.

I held open the door for her as well left, walking out together as if nothing had changed and everything was perfect. I don't know what hurt more; the fact that it wasn't perfect, or the fact that it so easily could be.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two:**

On the night of Iggy and Ella's wedding, out of the corner of me eye, I saw Max leaning against the open bar, chatting away with some man, a huge smile on her face. At the table I was sitting at, Ella's friends were attempting to flirt with me and I was not amused.

"So what exactly do you do again?" one asked me, although I couldn't remember her name. Emily, Emma, something like that.

"I'm a reporter," I said matter-of-factly.

"Ooh," Emily/Emma said, taking a sip of her drink. The girl sitting next to her nodded enthusiastically.

"There's something very attractive about an author," she said, leaning closer to me.

"I'm not an author," I clarified. "I'm a reporter."

She backed away a little, obviously intimated by my seriousness. A different girl took the opportunity to step in.

"So how do you know the happy couple? Are you close?" she asked.

I stared at her for a second. Obviously I was close if I was asked to be in the wedding party. "I've known Iggy for my whole life," I said flatly.

The three girls oohed, their eyes widening. "I didn't know that," Emily/Emma said. "That must be nice."

I shrugged, as the chair next to me pulled away from the table. Max sat down and shoved a glass of champagne in my face.

"Here," she said. "It was for Nudge, but I don't know where she went."

I looked over to Max, glad for the save, and she smiled at me before smoothing down the skirt of her dress.

"It's really good to see you again, Max," one of the girls said to her, and Max looked up surprised.

"Oh, you too Hannah," she said smiling, struggling to be cheerful.

Hannah smiled back as a group of boys approached the table.

"Girls," one of them said, "Come dance with us."

They giggled, but joined them, pushing back their chairs, and moved to the dance floor.

Max sighed and took a sip of her drink. She made a face, wrinkling her nose. "Ugh," she said. "That's gross." She tried to push her glass towards me, but I shook my head.

"I don't like champagne," I said.

She looked at me for a moment. "Oh, ok."

We were quiet for a moment, while Max distractedly played with the bracelet on her left wrist. I watched her out of the corner of my eye.

"Where did you get that bracelet?" I asked, trying to make conversation.

She looked at me in surprised, then glanced down at her hand. "Oh, Mom got it for me for my twenty-first birthday."

She held out her arm so I could see it. "Diamonds?" I asked and she nodded. "It's very nice."

Max nodded as Nudge came up to us and sat down next to Max.

"I'm starving," she said. "When's dinner?"

Max shrugged, but handed Nudge our two glasses. She raised her eyebrows.

"Are you trying to get me drunk?" Nudge asked, taking a sip out of one. Max laughed.

"Mommy!" Nora ran in to the back of Max's chair, gripping the edge. "Angel gave me some glitter." She pointed to her cheeks that had some lightly sprinkled sparkles on them. Max smiled.

"She told me that I looked like a princess!" she said, her eyes widening.

Max laughed, although Nora did look like a princess in her mint green flower girl dress with the appropriate flowers pulling her hair away from her ear.

"Why don't you go show Gazzy?" Max suggested, smoothing down the girl's hair.

"Gazzy?" she asked. "Where is he?"

Max pointed to the corner of the room to Gaz, who was holding Matt on his hip, playing with the sparkling lights decorating the room. Of course, a he was joined by a young girl, who was fascinated with the baby.

"Ok," she said, and ran off in his direction.

As Angel sat down next to me, Max said, "Way to turn my daughter into a girl."

Angel smirked. "With you as a mother she needs some femininity."

Nudge laughed while Max glared at Angel.

"I don't know," Nudge said, taking another sip. "Max looks very beautiful tonight."

Max looked down, oddly embarrassed.

Angel spoke up. "Yes she does," she said with a smile. "She should dress this way more often."

"Oh, right, because I would want to wear this bridesmaid's dress every day of my life," Max said, rolling her eyes.

"Hey," Nudge said. "At least it's not hideous. I like the dark green. It makes my complexion look fantastic."

"We were talking about Max actually," Angel said. "And about how beautiful she is. Nudge, you look beautiful every day."

So does Max, but I wasn't going to say anything.

Gazzy approached our table, touching Max on the shoulder. "Hey guys," he said, before looking down at Max. "May I have this dance?"

Max rolled her eyes again. "You know I don't dance. And where are my children?"

The Gasman nodded his head to the left. "Your mom offered to watch them. Now come," he said, grabbing her wrist and pulling her up off of the seat.

"Gazzy," Max complained.

"Iggy and Ella requested your participation," he said in all seriousness.

Reluctantly, Max followed him, her knee length dress flowing around her legs, her chunky black heels clicking in key with her attitude.

I watched as Gazzy and Max danced slowly, Max laughing embarrassed, and Gaz laughing at her. They made their way to where Iggy and Ella were dancing, the two of the glowing.

* * *

><p><em>It was crowded. Max, Iggy and I were all leaning against the wall, our arms crossed, just trying to keep away from the people. Ella had invited the three of us to her New Year's Eve party, and since Max couldn't turn down her sister, we had all showed up. The younger three were nowhere to be seen. <em>

"_Iggy!" Ella shouted to him. "Come here for a sec." Iggy unwilling pushed himself of off the wall and made his way to where Ella was standing. Max slid next to me, closing the gap between us where Iggy was standing._

"_It looks like someone has a crush," she said, nodding towards Ella._

"_Wonder how long this one will last," I said, and Max laughed._

"_Who knows?" she said. She reached up and pulled her hair out of her ponytail. She ruffled it a little with her fingers, before gathering it up above her head to retie it._

"_I can't believe we're here," she said. "I would much rather like, be watching a movie or something. But no, Ella has to have a party with loud music, junk food, and grinding. She's such a teenager."_

_I nodded my head._

_Max sighed, crossing her arms. "At least its not like, truth or dare."_

_I nodded again, and we watched Ella's friends dance like idiots in a comfortable silence between us. _

_Max turned her head to look at me, but she didn't say anything. I looked at her from the corner of my eye._

"_Would you…" she started, then paused._

"_What?" I asked._

"_Do you want to go outside?"_

_I nodded, and she started to walk towards the front door, me following right behind her._

_Max stepped off of the front porch, gripped her arms, and looked up at the sky. The slight breeze stirred the bottom of her billowy shirt that was more like an ultra-short dress, that most likely Ella had dressed her in, and I heard her sigh. I stood by her side._

"_Another year huh?" she said. _

"_Yeah," I agreed. _

"_Well, it's one more year we're alive," she said, and I looked at her. She hasn't talked this way for a while, but I guess the past is something that not easy to forget. _

"_I don't think you need to worry about surviving another year," I said._

_Max shook her head. "You never know."_

_I was quiet. I wanted to reach out and touch her, just to let her know that everything was going to be okay. But I didn't dare._

_Even out in the yard, we could still hear the music pulsing through the house. Max closed her eyes, inhaled deeply, then turned to face me._

"_Do you want to dance?" she asked._

"_What?" I asked, surprised._

_Max smiled. "Let's dance."_

_I shook my head, my heart pounding. "I don't dance."_

"_Neither do I," Max said laughing. "Come on." She grabbed my wrists and pulled them towards her._

"_Max…" I warned but she just laughed._

"_You're such a big baby," she said, dropping my wrists. My arms fell sadly at my side. "Maybe some other time."_

_She smiled at me, and I smiled back. In front of me, Max turned to face the stars again, while I fixed my gaze on the back of her head, content with everything in this short, simple moment._

"_I can't believe you won't dance with me," she grumbled._

_I leaned my elbows against the porch railing next to her, and turned my head to face hers. "You've never seen me dance."_

"_Oh so you mean you've tried to dance?" she asked, her eyes wide with mock interest, leaning down to match my height._

"_No," I rebutted. "I just can't dance."_

"_Well you've never seen me dance," she said, raising her eyebrows._

"_You mean you've danced before?" I mocked her._

"_Actually, yes I have. Alone in my room, in my underwear, singing into my hairbrush."_

_I laughed quickly, and Max smiled._

"_I actually believed you for a second," I admitted, and she smacked my arm._

"_Fang! Come on, I would never do that," said Max, smiling. "But I still can't believe you won't dance with me."_

_I sighed. "Fine. I'll dance with you."_

_Max eyes lit up. "Really?"_

"_Yes," I said. "Just not today."_

_She smacked my arm again, and leaned back against the railing, her cheek in her palm._

"_Why do you want to dance with me so much?" I asked._

_Max shrugged. "Because I've never danced with anyone before, and it's New Year's Eve, and if I would choose to have my first dance with anyone it'd want it to be with you."_

_My heart leaped, and I stared at her._

"_One day, I promise I'll dance with you."_

"_Oh I know you will. I'll make it happen."_

_She nudged my arm with hers, and smiled at me. I looked back at her, inwardly promising myself that this was one promise I had to keep._

* * *

><p>"That could've been you up there," Nudge said nodding her head towards Max and Gazzy, leaning back in her chair, the champagne in her hand, as she crossed her legs.<p>

I glared at her, but Angel slapped my arm. "Oh stop. You wish you were up there too."

I was silent with no interest of getting into this here.

"Ask her to dance," Nudge suggested. "She would like that."

I shook my head, and Nudge sighed.

"You were surprised by her kids," Angel pointed out.

"I had no idea," I admitted. "Why didn't anyone tell me?"

"She didn't want us to," Nudge said quietly. "Max wanted to tell you herself."

"But she didn't."

"Well she didn't want to tell you over an email," Nudge pointed out. "It's impersonal. She had no other way to contact you, since you wouldn't give her your phone number."

I looked down at my hands folded in my lap before looking back into the center of the room. Gazzy and Max were still dancing, now to a faster paced song, and they were both joined by Iggy and Ella and a few of Ella's friends. Nora had found her way into the middle of them, and was being twirled in circles, her flowing dress billowing around her ankles.

Nudge slapped down her empty glass dramatically and stood up, adjusting her strapless dress, and then smoothed down the sweater that was hiding her wings.

"Come on," she said. "Let's dance." Nudge abruptly left without an answer, and made her went to the center of the room. Angel stood up next to me.

"Let's go," she said, tugging on my elbow. "Have some fun. Don't make me tell you again."

I knew what she meant by that, and she didn't have to tell me twice. She quite literally pulled me to the dance floor, the grip she had on my hand proving she had gotten stronger.

Somehow, Angel maneuvered me between her and Max, who smiled at me. Max held out a finger which Nora grabbed, spinning around.

"Fang!" Ella said, reaching an arm out to me. "You mean you moved from your seat?" I smiled at her, and she laughed back.

"Mommy, you try now. I want to see your dress spin too," Nora said.

Max laughed again, but she obeyed, her emerald green dress spinning around, her wavy hair twirling around her face. Nora laughed excitedly, just as a slower song came on.

The DJ cleared the dance floor for most people, just as Iggy pulled Ella in for a dance, both of them smiling. Angel tugged me aside by the elbow and rested a hand on my shoulder.

"Dance with me?" she asked, and I nodded.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Nora standing on the tops of Gazzy's feet. Max was nowhere to be seen. I turned back to Angel.

"You're a terrible dancer," she said, laughing.

"I don't practice," I said bluntly.

Angel coyly smiled. "Maybe you should get a partner then."

I smirked at her, and she smiled sweetly back. As we spun around in a circle, she smiled at Gazzy. I followed her gaze and continued to watch them over Angel's shoulder.

"He's really good with them," Angel said. "He dotes on Matty. It's actually really funny to watch; Gazzy being like that really young, fun uncle or something."

"Yeah," I said.

"Max adores it, though. She purposely lets Gazzy watch them. I never knew how much he liked children," she said.

I nodded, and she continued to talk.

"I think Max is really happy about their relationship with Gaz and Iggy, since they don't have a strong male guardian in their life."

Angel looked me straight in the eye. "Max was excited for you to meet them, you know. She really wants you to have a good relationship with them, too. And, she'll never admit this, but she hopes that it will bring the two of you closer again as well."

We stopped dancing, as I stared at her, a funny feeling in my chest. Out of nowhere, Max appeared at Angel's side.

"I'm going to get a drink," Angel said, backing away from me. I looked over at Max, who smiled, and back at Angel who winked at me as she walked away, heading in the direction of Gazzy.

"May I?" Max asked, stepping closer to me. I nodded. Behind her, Angel grinned like a lunatic, and Gazzy waved at me, giving me a sly smile.

Max took my hand, and a familiar flush crept through my body.

"I had to get at least one dance, didn't I?" she asked me, laughing. "Before you disappear for another year."

I narrowed my eyes at her, and she laughed again.

"You didn't show up for Thanksgiving," I pointed out.

"Nora was sick," she said. "And you never showed up for Christmas."

"I had a job that week," I said.

She nodded. "So I heard."

We were quiet for a moment, before I stepped in. "You look good."

She blushed. "So do you."

"I meant you look happy," I clarified.

She smiled. "I am. I am really happy."

"That's good," I said, and forced a small smile.

"So what do you think of them?" Max asked, smiling.

I paused, searching for the right words. "You seem like an excellent mother."

Max smiled. "You seemed shocked," she noted, and I nodded.

We were quiet for a while, moving around to the beat of some slow rock ballad.

Max stared at me for a little while, and I knew she wanted to say something. I waited patiently, not wanting to push her to do anything. I knew how she got when she was like that.

"You know," she said quietly. "Um, it would mean a lot… if you saw them once in a while."

I didn't know how to respond to that, so while Max looked away, I tried to phrase my thoughts.

"Why?" I asked finally, and Max looked up.

"What do you mean why?" she said, defensively, and I immediately regretted it. The last thing I wanted was Max to be mad at me.

"I would like them to be close to some guys," Max said. "It's not like they have a father. Or even a grandfather."

I was quiet, and the song was starting to wind down.

"And I would like to see you more," she said, looking straight into my eyes.

I grinded my teeth, hoping she wouldn't have said that. A sinking feeling fell into the pit of my stomach, and I looked down.

"I mean, I get that you don't really care about me anymore, but we're still family," Max said. "Or so I thought."

"I still care," I said, not too convincing.

She gave me a doubtful look. "An email once a month doesn't seem too caring."

I swallowed, knowing I couldn't bring myself to say what I really wanted to.

"I know things can't be like they used to, so you don't have to lie and say everything will go back to normal," she said.

"I never said that," I answered.

Max rolled her eyes. "Everyone else does."

I was quiet for a moment, and the song ended, followed by another slow song. Max backed away.

"I'm going to get my kids," she said, and I nodded.

Max walked away from me, and reluctantly I headed in the opposite direction. I then made a promise to myself, that I would never let myself walk away from Max again. No matter how much I was mortified about my past actions, I was going to suck it up and take the blame for every little thing I've ever did to her.


	3. Chapter 3

**[I just want to thank everyone who took the time to review or add me to their favorites or alert or anything; it really means a lot!]**

**Chapter Three:**

Clicking the send button on an email never loses its satisfaction. Especially since this was my last article writing for the "North Carolinian" paper. Later that night, I was meeting with another freelance reporter for drinks, but for now, I shut down my laptop in hope for a relaxing evening.

I moved to the bed, leaning against the headboard and flipped through the channels on the TV. I held my head against my knuckles, beginning to feel the reoccurring loneliness that had occupied my life for the past eight years.

Oh my fourth round of flipping through the basic cable channels, my cell phone vibrated, alerting me of a new text message. Leaning across the bed to get to the nightstand, I flipped open my phone, sighing when the message was from my boss. It read:

**New York wants you, possibly permanent. Be there Tuesday. More info later.**

I turned off the TV thankfully, and rebooted my laptop to book a flight and hotel room. It was just like him to give me two days night to find a place to stay.

Since my company was paying for my travel expenses, I was more than willing to splurge on first class, since I wasn't able to fly there myself. And also especially since the only reasonable flight was at Monday morning. I was looking forward to my waffle breakfast on the plane.

I dialed Nudge's cell, cradling the phone between my ear and shoulder, while I put my credit card number in to the website to book my flight. My boss would reimburse me back later.

"Hello?" Nudge answered the phone, sounding distracted.

"Nudge?" I asked.

"Yeah, hey Fang," she said. "Can you hang on for a second?"

"Sure," I said, bringing up a new search for the hotel.

Nudge mumbled something, not to me, but I could still hear. "Nora, slip on your shoes."

A moment later, Nudge was back on the phone. "Sorry about that, I just wanted to make sure the kids were ready. What's up?"

"Are you busy?" I asked. "I can call back later."

"No," Nudge said. "I got fifteen minutes before I need to get Nora on the bus. What's going on?"

"I have a job in New York in a few days," I said.

"Oh yeah?" she asked. "We should meet up."

"Ok," I said. "I was wondering if you knew any hotels in the area."

Nudge paused. "Where's your office?"

I gave her the address and she thought for a moment. "There's a few around there, depending on how far you want to walk."

"Just give me all of them," I said, getting a pen and pad out of my bag lying on the floor.

She gave me a list of six hotels which I wrote down in attempt to call them later. Most of them were well known names that sounded expensive, so I would have to see what my company would allow.

"Hey listen," she said. "I have to get going. We'll talk later ok?"

"Ok," I said. "Thanks, Nudge."

"No problem. See ya," she said.

"Bye," I replied and she hung up.

I dialed the number of the first hotel after I looked it up online, and the receptionist picked up.

"Hello, how may I help you?"

"I need a room for Monday," I explained, shifting the phone to my other hand.

"This Monday?" the woman clarified.

"Yes," I said, hearing some tapping on the other side of the line.

"Sorry, sir but we're all booked," she said sympathetically.

"Ok. Thanks anyway."

I went through this routine twice more, before finally getting through at another hotel.

"And how long are you planning on staying for?" the man asked.

"About two weeks," I said, although I really had no clue how long I was staying for.

"I'm sorry, but the longest opening we have is for five nights," he said, and I looked down at the notebook. After the first three phone calls to booked hotels, I decided not to chance the last two. I could find somewhere else to stay for the remainder of the time.

"Ok, that's fine," I said.

"All right then sir. We look forward to your arrival."

I forwarded the plane ticket and hotel reservation down to the printer in the lobby, and made my way downstairs to pick it up.

Back up in my room, I flipped through the TV channels again, in hopes for a different show to suddenly appear. After the past seven years of having this job, the monotonous lifestyle of the four-wall hotel room as became similar to a prison cell. Usually, I booked hotels in urban areas so I would at least have somewhere to walk around. Otherwise, I would spend my down time flying.

My cell phone buzzed and caller ID said Nudge was calling back.

"Hey," I said.

"Sorry about that," Nudge said. "I just got back from dropping off the kids."

"No, that's all right," I said.

"Is now a good time to talk? I don't have to work for another two hours," she said.

"That's fine," I replied. "You didn't have to call me back."

"I wanted to talk to you," Nudge simply stated.

"Oh," I said, repositioning the pillow under my head.

"So anyway, when are you coming?" she jumped in.

"Monday," I answered.

"Wow, that's really soon," she said. "How long are you staying?"

"Don't know," I said.

"What?" she asked, surprised. "How could you not know? Do they just tell you where to go and you just obey?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

"And you enjoy that?" she asked. "The constant uncertainty?"

"I'm used to it," I said bluntly.

Nudge paused. "Right. Anyway, we should get dinner on Monday. That's my day off."

"All right. You choose the place this time," I said.

"Ok, I'll think about it." Nudge paused again. "Can I bring Jack? I want you to meet him."

"Sure," I said. Nudge was quiet again.

"Should I ask Max to come along?" she said slowly.

I was silent, contemplating the question.

"I mean, you can't just ignore her forever right?" she said. I didn't respond.

"You two looked pretty chummy at the wedding," she continued. "I haven't seen her so happy in a long time."

I sighed.

"Look, I'm just saying it's pretty rude to just ignore her, like you usually do," Nudge stated.

"I don't ignore her. I'm just busy," I protested lamely.

"Oh don't give me that crap," she responded. "You could make time if you wanted to."

I was silent again.

"You know, you let over an entire year passed by without a visit to her and you're just going let another one go by without seeing her either. I don't care how hard it is for you to muster up the courage to see her; she deserves more than just an email every once in a while," she argued.

"I know," I replied, simply because I didn't know what else to say.

"So you're going to change?" Nudge asked hopefully.

"She has a life, you know," I said. "I can't just waltz back into it."

"Well you can't just disappear," Nudge retaliated. "And just because she has kids doesn't change anything."

"Yes it does."

Nudge was quiet. "You're such an idiot."

I didn't say anything, and Nudge was also hushed for a while.

Of course, she spoke up first. "So, I'll ask Max to come along."

"Ok," I gave in reluctantly. Inwardly, I was actually glad to be able to see Max, but I was more nervous about seeing her outside of a family function.

"Are you ok with that?" she asked. "Well, that doesn't matter; she's coming even if you don't want her to."

"I do want her to," I replied.

"Oh?" Nudge asked, her voice higher. "So the ignorance thing is all an act?"

"No," I said shortly, changing my position.

"Uh huh," Nudge mocked. "Well, Max will be excited. She needs to get out every once in a while. I'll tell her it was your idea."

"But it wasn't my idea," I replied.

Nudge sighed. "You're right, but I'll tell her you're excited."

I was quiet, and Nudge continued.

"You are excited to see her," Nudge said. "I can tell by your lack of rebuttal."

"Whatever," I said, changing the channel on the TV.

"You should stay with us," Nudge offered.

"No thanks, I have a hotel."

Nudge sighed. "All right Fang, be difficult. But it would mean a lot to both of us if you put in a little more effort to spend more time with your family. I'm not going to let you disappear again."

It wasn't like I had completely disappeared into thin air; they all had my cell number and my email address. With work constantly moving around it wasn't like I could stay in any place for too long regardless of who I was seeing.

So I just stayed silent, not responding.

"You know what happened to Max the last time you left her, don't you?" Nudge said quietly.

I sucked in my breath, speechless.

"Yeah," Nudge whispered. "I thought so. You don't want that to happen again do you?"

"Of course not," I spat angrily.

"Well it seems like you're heading down that same path."

Once again, I couldn't reply.

"Well it was nice talking to you, but I need to get ready," she said, with a sigh, and I glanced over at the clock.

"All right," I said slowly, a little surprised at her quick change of subject.

"I'll call you tomorrow with the plan," she concluded. "Bye Fang."

"Bye," I said, and she hung up.

Sighing I flipped my phone closed and tossed it on to the bed. I folded my hands against the back of my head and turned my attention towards the news, even though I honestly couldn't pay attention to it at all. My mind was elsewhere.

* * *

><p><em>I closed the top to my laptop just as Iggy came into my bedroom. He sat down on the edge of the bed, and I got up to place the laptop on my desk.<em>

"_So," he said, patting the edge of the mattress. "Let's talk."_

_I sat down backwards on the chair, my arms folded across the back. "About what?"_

"_You and Max."_

_I swallowed, and looked at him. He tapped his fingers against his knees._

"_What about it?" I asked eventually._

"_Well," he started. "I've been hearing a few of your late night chats up on the roof."_

"_What?"_

"_It's been warm, so I left the window open. And it's not like you're the quietest people. Sue me," he said, leaning back against the wall._

"_There's nothing going on," I argued._

_He rolled his eyes. "Uh huh."_

_I narrowed my eyes, but of course it was no help. _

_Iggy sat back up. "So do you like her?"_

"_No," I denied._

"_Why do you even bother lying to me?" he asked._

"_I'm not," I stated._

_Iggy sighed. "Look. It's pretty obvious you do—"_

"_No it's not."_

_He paused. "Well that fact that you keep protesting against it makes it clear."_

_I stayed quiet. _

"_Anyway, for arguments sake, let's just assume that you like her."_

_I glared at him._

"_Hypothetically, of course. Would you do anything about it?"_

"_No," I said, and Iggy frowned._

"_Why not?" _

"_Because. I don't like her. And she doesn't like me," I argued._

_Iggy sighed again. "You're so difficult."_

_I didn't answer._

"_What if I told you that Max liked you back?" he said slowly._

_I shook my head. "She doesn't."_

"_So you're admitting you do like her?" he added with a smile._

"No,_" I said. _

_Iggy raised his eyebrows. "Ok then. But she does like you."_

"_No," I repeated._

"_How do you know?" he asked._

"_How do you know?"_

_Iggy shrugged. "I have my ways."_

"_So do I."_

_He shrugged again. "Well yours are wrong."_

"_No they aren't."_

"_Have you talked to her about it?"_

_I leaned back against the edge of my desk. "No."_

"_Then how do you know?"_

"_Look, I just know ok? I know her well, and I would know how she felt," I said, really not in the mood to talk about this._

_Iggy was silent for a moment, as his head turned eerily in my direction. _

"_I don't think you know her as well as you think you do," he said finally._

_I paused. "What is that supposed to mean?"_

"_I'm just saying," he started. "Max has been coming to talk to me more and more often lately."_

"_What?"_

"_What?"_

"_Why would she talk to you?" I asked, sitting up straighter._

"_I don't know," he said, shrugging, in a tone that was obviously trying to pick a fight._

"_What do you talk about?" I asked._

_Iggy smiled. "Why do you care?"_

"_I'm just asking."_

"_Well, I never share my secrets. You're just going to have to ask Max. Ow!"_

_I had punched him._

_Standing up, I pushed my chair back into the desk. I rolled back on my eyes and sighed._

"_I'm going downstairs," I announced. Turing around, so I was facing the door, I heard Iggy get up behind me, but I continued walking._

"_I'm right you know," he said, while I was walking through the doorway. "She loves you!"_

_I stopped short in the middle of the hallway, and turned around in time to see Iggy walking out of my room, his back facing me as he turned the other direction. He waved a hand in the air above his head. _

"_Just you wait!"_

_Under my breath, I muttered, "He's dead."_


	4. Chapter 4

**[Thank you so much for the feedback, as always! It's so nice to know that there's a few people still out there hanging on to the story. :]**

**I meant to update this chapter over the weekend, but got so caught up in my midterm work that I didn't have time/forgot. But, I only have one more exam and one more essay and then I'm done! **

**Enjoy this chapter guys! Let me know what you think; it's one of my favorites I've written for this story so far. So far.]**

**Chapter Four:**

"Fang!" Nudge said, waving her hand as I walked down the hallway. She smiled as she approached me.

"Hey," I said, as she pulled me in to a hug.

"How was your flight?" she asked. "And your meeting this morning?"

"Both good," I said, as we started walking towards the door.

"That's good. Jack's meeting us at the restaurant because he works right by there, so it would be silly for him to come all the way down here," she explained.

"Ok," I replied, wondering where Max was, but I wasn't going to say anything. "Where does he work?"

"Oh, at a coffee shop a few blocks away," she said. "Is it all right if we take the subway? It's kind of a long walk."

I nodded and Nudge started walking one step ahead of me.

"So, I made reservations at an Italian restaurant. It's amazing; and Max's favorite. She's jealous that we're going."

"She's not coming?" I asked casually.

Nudge shook her head. "No, she couldn't find a babysitter. Although I told her to bring the kids but she didn't want to."

"Oh," I mumbled.

She looked back at me. "Are you upset?" she questioned.

I was silent. If I lied and said no, that would make me seem like I didn't care, and Nudge was already accusing me of being careless. However, if I said yes, that would bring up another can of worms that I didn't want to go in to. So I decided to not answer.

Nudge glanced back at me again. "I thought so," she said.

When we got to the restaurant, Nudge expertly maneuvered her way through the large crowd of people surrounding the door to get to the maitre-de, who then led us to a table smack dab in the middle of the largest, nosiest room I have ever been in, which seated about fifty or so tables, all of which were filled.

A young man was already sitting at the table, and stood up when we arrived. Nudge took his arm and smiled at me.

"Fang, this is Jack. Jack, this is Fang."

He smiled and reached out his hand. As I grasped it, he spoke over the noise, "Nudge told me so much about you."

I knew better than to ask what he's heard, knowing they were not all good things.

We sat down, and I opened my menu. The man sitting behind me pushed his chair against mine as he rose, and apologized as he walked away. I was beginning to feel claustrophobic.

"So what brings you to New York?" Jack asked.

"I was assigned a new piece to work on and I have a job interview," I stated.

"What's it about?" Nudge asked me, and she flung her cloth napkin down on her lap with a fancy flourish.

I shrugged. "I don't know yet."

Jack nodded, and Nudge continued talking. "What's the interview for?"

"A permanent position at a newspaper."

Nudge's eyes widened. "Are you serious? Fang, that's fantastic!"

I shrugged, not thinking it was a big deal, while Nudge seemed to be head over heels with the fact that I could be living near her.

After a while, we ordered and the restaurant seemed to get even more crowded. Feeling slightly unnerved, I fidgeted in my seat.

"So this is really Max's favorite restaurant?" I asked.

Nudge put down her glass as she swallowed. "Yeah," she said, nodding. "It's really popular, and it's always this crowded, even off-peak. But the food is outstanding, trust me. Max even asked me to bring her back a dish."

I nodded, feeling a little bit overwhelmed by the thought of Max's choices in restaurants changing quite a bit from back when we were dating.

* * *

><p><em>I shoved my hands deep inside my pockets, as I stood outside of Max's room. I couldn't deny it; I was nervous. I swallowed, gaining all of the courage I could muster and knocked gently on her door.<em>

"_Come in," she called from the inside._

_I pushed open the door to find Max at her desk, with her headphones in her ears. She smiled at me when I walked in._

"_What's up?" she asked, tugging on the cord of her headphones to get them out of her ears._

"_Not much," I said, walking in. "You?"_

"_I'm cleaning out my iTunes," she said._

"_Cleaning?"_

_She nodded. "My iPod is filled up so I'm taking off songs I don't listen to often." _

_I nodded in understanding._

_She paused the song playing from her laptop and spun her chair around to face me. I sat down on the edge of her bed. "What's going on?" she asked, and I shook my head._

"_Come on, there has to be something. You don't come to see me unless you want something," she explained._

"_I just wanted to talk," I said._

"_Oh, all right," she said. "So, how's life?"_

_I swallowed. "Fine."_

"_Ok, really Fang, what's the problem?" Max asked. "You look nervous."_

_I looked her straight in the eye. "I want to ask you something."_

_She nodded. "Shoot."_

_I looked down at my lap before looking back up at her. "Do you want to get dinner?" I said slowly._

"_Dinner?" she repeated, and I nodded._

"_What did you have in mind?" she asked. _

"_Your choice."_

"_Ok, I'll talk to Iggy and make sure he didn't start cooking yet. The kids will enjoy eating out, I think," she stated, spinning her chair around to power down her laptop._

_Rejected, I bit my tongue and stared at her back. "Actually, that's not what I meant."_

_She stood up, her face changed. "Oh?"_

_I swallowed again. "I meant alone."_

"_Alone?" Max asked, surprised. "Why?"_

_I rubbed my hands on my pants and ran my fingers through my hair. Finally, I shrugged._

"_Do you…" Max started slowly, "…mean like a date?"_

_I looked in her eyes, but I couldn't read them. "If you want."_

_She paused, staring at me. "Ok," she said finally. "Where are we going?"_

"_Wherever you want."_

_Max smiled. "When are we leaving?"_

_I glanced over at her clock. "An hour? Hour and a half?"_

_Max nodded. "All right," she smiled again, and I gave her a quick smile back. I stood up to leave._

_With my hand on the doorknob, Max called after me. "Fang?"_

_I turned around. _

"_Did you just ask me out?"_

_I paused for a moment. "Yeah."_

_Max's smile grew larger. "Ok," she nodded._

_I left the room, closing the door behind me. I kept my hand on the doorknob, but turned around so I was facing the door. I stared at it for a minute, a slow smile creeping across my face._

* * *

><p>Outside of the restaurant, we stood against the wall of some building. Jack and Nudge held hands while Nudge talked about her class tomorrow morning.<p>

"So anyway," she said, changing the topic. "We should go do something and not just stand here."

Nudge turned to me. "Hey do you want to come back to our apartment? It's still pretty early, and we can make coffee or something."

I paused. Max and Nudge have had their apartment for a few years now, and I've been in New York a handful of times since then, but have never brought myself to see it.

About to reject the invitation, Nudge narrowed her eyes. "Max would really like to see you," she said with a warning tone.

I swallowed, putting my hands in my pockets. I looked Nudge in the eyes.

"Great, you'll come," she said, smiling.

"I didn't say that," I pointed out.

"I know, but I'm prepared to fight you," she said.

I didn't say anything.

Nudge turned on Jack. "Are you coming?"

Jack shook his head. "Sorry, I have to head home. I have an 8 AM class and a paper to work on."

"Oh, well that's all right," Nudge said. "Thanks for coming with us then." She smiled. "Are you taking the subway back home?"

"Yeah, it's too far to walk," he said.

"Ok, we'll walk you to the stop," Nudge offered.

Feeling like a third wheel while they held hands in front of me, I followed them down the street, my hands still in my pockets. I watching them as Nudge glanced up at Jack occasionally, smiling away.

When we reached a set of stairs leading underground, I stood off to the side awkwardly gazing up at the skyline. Nudge craned her neck, and they kissed quickly while I looked away.

"Bye Nudge," he whispered to her, before turning towards me. "It was nice meeting you."

"Same here," I replied, raising my hand in a short wave.

He descended down the steps, and Nudge led me down the opposite direction of where we came from.

"Is it all right if we stop somewhere before heading back?" she asked.

"Yeah."

"Ok cool. It's this little dessert place a few blocks from our apartment. You can sit down or take out, but I was going to bring home a box of something," she said, as we waiting for the light to change at the corner.

"Ok, that's fine."

"It's about a fifteen to twenty minute walk. But we can take a cab."

"Walking is fine."

A little while later, we stepped inside a small café, with a purely Italian name and we stood in a large take-out line. While this place was busy, it was less crowded and cramped than the place we ate dinner at.

"Don't worry, the line moves quickly," Nudge said.

She proved herself to be right, as we made it to the counter in record time. The woman behind the glass case of pastries recognized her.

"Hey sweetie," she said. "I haven't seen you in a while."

Nudge smiled. "I know," she said. "I took classes over the summer, and when I wasn't doing that, I was working crazy shifts."

"You always overwork yourself. Take a break," she said.

"Well, that's how I pay for all of my classes," Nudge replied and the woman sighed.

"Ok, sweetie." Then she looked at me. She couldn't have been older than forty, with her short hair pulled back into a fluffy pony tail. "What can I get you two?"

Nudge looked at me. "See anything you want?"

I looked down at the case, while Nudge ordered.

"I'll take a small cappuccino," she said, then turned to me. "Do you want one?"

I shook my head.

"Are you sure? It's to die for."

"I don't really like coffee," I said, and she nodded.

She then ordered an elaborate chocolate dessert, while I just got a plain piece of cheesecake. The waitress nodded, repeating the order to the people behind her.

"Will that be all?" she asked.

"Oh, no. Can I also get a dozen mini canolies? Half chocolate dipped," Nudge said.

"For Max?" the woman guessed and Nudge smiled.

"Of course."

"Ok, I'll be right back."

"That was Molly," Nudge said, when she left. We moved to the register while we awaited our boxes. "We come here so often that they know us by name."

I nodded in response, as a man behind the counter handed Nudge her cappuccino.

She took a sip, and then glared at me. "I can't believe you don't like coffee. I can live off of it."

I shook my head. "Not me."

"Well, Max isn't a fan of it either," she said with a sly glance.

Molly brought back the box of canolies before leaving again.

"Max will be so happy," Nudge said, patting the box of food from the restaurant she held in her hand. "Or jealous. Either or."

"Ok you two," Molly said, with two small boxes in her hand. "Is this everything?"

"Yup," Nudge said, getting out her wallet. I reached for mine as well, but she waved me away.

"Don't worry, I got it," she said. She glared at me, before I could argue against her.

Molly packed the desserts into a bag, and handed it to Nudge. "Have a great evening you two."

"Same with you, Molly. Thanks!" Nudge said, over her shoulder.

Nudge led me down the street. "Our apartment is only five minutes away," she said.

"Do you want me to take a bag?" I asked, walking beside her.

"Um, sure," she said. "Here, take this one." She handed me the one with all the desserts, and took a sip of her coffee, before glancing at me.

"Are you having fun?" she asked me.

I nodded. "Yeah."

"It doesn't seem like it."

"I am, really. I'm just distracted."

She looked up at me, smiling a little. "Thinking of Max?"

I glared at her. "No."

She laughed. "Don't worry; Max is excited to see you too."

I was quiet.

Nudge's face was suddenly serious, looking up at me. Oddly, she didn't say anything, but she didn't need to. I knew what she was warning me. I swallowed hard, looking down at my feet, trying not to think about it.

A few blocks later, Nudge led me up a small staircase, fishing around in her pocket. "Here we are," she said with a flourish, holding up her key.

I followed her into the small, dim-lighted alcove, as she made her way up the set of stairs that was in front of us.

"I can't wait to show you the place," she said down to me. "I bet you'll like it."

I didn't say anything, but she continued talking.

"The only downside," she said, as we reached the second landing, "is that we're on the top floor, and there's no elevator. Other than that, it's perfect."

I smiled slightly as she turned her head towards me. At the third landing, she stopped walking.

"Look," she said under her breath. "I can tell you didn't really want to come here. But this means a lot to me, and especially to Max, and I know I've probably said that a dozen times, but it's true."

I exhaled slowly, looking Nudge straight in the eye. She gave me a stern look.

"So don't bounce out after fifteen minutes. Please."

"I won't," I said, even though I originally wasn't planning for staying long.

"Please," she repeated, glaring at me.

I looked at her, and she continued talking.

"Oh, and uh, Max doesn't know that you know about, you know, so don't mention it."

I blinked. "Why would I?" I asked, harsher than I meant to.

Nudge shrugged. "You've been thinking about it, I can tell."

I stayed silent.

"Just don't bring it up. Not that you would, but I'm just letting you know," she added again.

"I won't," I promised, questioning why I would even want to talk about _that_ in the firstplace.

Nudge nodded, and continued walking.

We finally reached the final floor, and Nudge made her way down the dreary hallway. She stopped in front of a door on the right, and stuck her key in the deadbolt.

I swallowed quietly, feeling a little nervous for some odd reason. Actually, it probably wasn't too odd; I just didn't want to admit it.

Nudge opened the door, and a warm breeze hit our faces. She walked in, calling out.

"We're back," she said, dumping her keys in a bowl near the door. I followed her in.

We were standing in a small entry hall, and to our right was a bright, open room. Nudge walked towards that direction, and I slowly followed.

"Hey," Nudge said, turning to her left. I stopped walking, because the pictures to my left caught my eye. The whole wall was covered in framed photographs, some old, and some new, but for some reason they were off. I couldn't place it, but I felt like something was missing.

"Hey," Max replied, and I turned my head to where Nudge was standing, but from where I was I couldn't see Max. I slowly moved towards her.

"The kids are asleep," she said. "How was dinner?"

"Oh, only amazing, like usual," Nudge said, turning towards me. "Right?"

I stood by her side, walking into what seemed to be the living room, where Max was sitting on the couch, her knees pulled up and a book in her lap. She smiled warmly at me.

"You liked it?" Max asked. "I'm glad. That's our favorite restaurant."

"I heard," I said, glancing at Nudge.

"We brought you back some," Nudge said, holding out her bag. Max smiled and dropped her feet to the floor, grasping the box.

"Thanks," she said, standing up. "I'm going to warm this up. Do you guys want anything? Coffee? Tea?"

"I had a cappuccino, I'm good," Nudge said.

"I'm fine," I replied.

Max smiled. "Ok, I'll be right back."

She left and walked down a hallway parallel to the one we came in from, and Nudge whirled on me.

"So?" she asked. "What do you think?"

I took a moment to look around. The room was small, with a small couch, an arm chair, and a coffee table and three closed doors. It was painted a warm yellow color, with more pictures and childish artwork hanging on the walls. Blankets, magazines, and an assortment of books were scattered across the room. A few toys were tossed in random places, but not nearly as much as I had expected.

"It's nice," I said.

Nudge smiled. "I told you you would like it."

She sat down on the couch, and waved her hand in invitation. I sat in the armchair, and placed the bag on the coffee table, on top of a pile of magazines.

Max came back into the room with some steaming food on a plate, and sat back down in the same spot next to Nudge, and folded her legs under her.

"So," she started, stabbing a piece of chicken with her fork. "What are you doing here?"

"I have a job," I said, and she stared at me.

"Yeah, I got that," she said, sarcastically. "I meant what are you working on?"

"Well, I'm not really sure yet. The man I'm working for said he was going to start me off with a series of pieces, but he hasn't assigned them to me yet," I answered, and she nodded.

"He might be offered a permanent position," Nudge filled in, picking up our place from dinner.

Max's eyebrows rose. "In New York?" After I nodded, she said, "That's fantastic."

I nodded again, and Nudge gave Max a long look. Max nodded to the bag on the table, taking another bite. "What's in the bag?"

Nudge smiled. "Only your favorite. Chocolate dipped cannolis."

"Really? You stopped by to pick them up?"

"Of course we did," Nudge said, putting slight emphasis on the _we._

Max smiled, looking at me. "Nudge dragged you in there, huh?"

I nodded again, and she gave me a strange look, before turning back to her food.

"Well," Nudge said dramatically, placing her hands on either side of her knees. "I'm going to change into sweats. I'll be right back."

I watched as she opened one of the doors, and closed it behind her. I turned to Max, and she smiled at me.

"So how long are you here for? Do you know?"

I shook my head. "No clue."

"Well," she said. "We should get together sometime. Hang out for a little bit."

I nodded. "Sounds good."

"Where are you staying?" she asked.

I gave her the name of my hotel, and she nodded in recognition. "That's pretty far from here. How are you getting back tonight?"

"I'll probably walk," I replied.

"All right," she said warily. "Well, if you ever need anything, feel free to stop by here. Really."

"Ok," I said, although I knew I probably wouldn't.

She took another bite, before looking at me. "So, a permanent job huh? Would you take it?"

I shrugged. "Maybe."

"Well, it would be a great opportunity, right? And you wouldn't have to move around as much."

I didn't answer.

"I mean, I don't know how much you travel now, I guess, but you have to be getting tired of it," she continued.

"A little," I said, even though I had already started to get frustrated long ago.

Max looked down at her plate. She concentrated on twirling her pasta, as I watched.

"Well, I think you should take it," she said. "If you want my opinion."

"I'll keep that in mind," I told her sincerely. She smiled.

Nudge came out of her bedroom, and sat back down. Crossing her legs, she turned to Max.

"You have to work tomorrow?" she clarified.

"Yeah," Max sighed. "I know you have class early, so can you drop the kids off?"

"Of course," Nudge said.

Max smiled at her again, taking another bite of food.

I watched the two of them casually chat, Max eating and Nudge talking away, mostly about our dinner, and felt a funny feeling run through me. For years now, I had been feeling a mixture of remorse, guilt, and pity, but it was only getting stronger. I focused on Max, who looked the happiest I had seen her in so many years, and just knowing that she could pull herself out of something like that, didn't make me feel any better.

Ultimately, I was happy that Max was well off and living the life that I wanted, but at the moment, I felt empty.

* * *

><p><strong>[So, I probably won't be updating again until the weekend possibly. Once midterms are over and I'm home for break, I'm trying to get at least another three or four chapters done within the next week, and I usually don't update until I finish one chapter. <strong>

**As always, if anything is good or confusing or horrible or what not, please feel free to let me know! And thanks for reading! It really means a lot.]**


	5. Chapter 5

**[Has anyone else been having trouble logging in? I meant to update this over the weekend, and it kept telling me to sign in because I wasn't logged in... It was weird. Anyway, here's this chapter. Hope you like it!]**

* * *

><p><strong><span>Chapter Five:<span>**

"I've been waiting for you."

I turned around to see a young, well-dressed man walking towards me. I switched my briefcase into my other hand and straightened.

"You must be Fang," he said, reaching out his hand. "I'm Mark, your welcoming committee."

"Have you been waiting for a while?" I asked, as I followed him to a row of elevators. I thought I was on time, even early, but this guy had apparently been waiting.

"No, not at all. I just have nothing better to do. I'm only an intern, so they just told me to meet you at 10," he explained, and I nodded.

We boarded the elevator, and the ride was only slightly less than awkward. I stared upward at the moving numbers signaling what floor we were on, while Mark the intern glanced sideways at me.

"Are you ok?" he asked me, at floor 23.

I nodded. "Not an elevator fan."

"Ah," he replied when we passed floor 25.

At the 29th floor, the elevator stopped and we got out. He led me into a conference room made of glass walls where two older men were sitting at one end of the rectangle, mahogany table. Mark knocked once before walking in.

One of the men stood up and reached out his hand in my direction, which I firmly shook. "Pat Rosun." He sat back down, and the other man stayed seated without so much a glimpse in my direction.

"We're waiting on one other person," said Rosun.

I nodded, and stayed by the door. Rosun turned around, and waved Mark away. "You can take a seat," he said to me.

I sat down a few chairs away from them, and placed my briefcase on the table. I quickly glanced at my watch. I had made plans with Nudge for lunch at noon, and I didn't think that this meeting would take over two hours, but it was just to make sure.

"In the meantime, we can go over your resume," Rosun said to me, while the other man looked up from his cell phone.

I unhooked the clips of my briefcase, and took out the folder containing my resume and portfolio. I handed over my resume to Rosun, and the other man reached across the table.

"Thomas Pike," he said, while I shook his hand. "Nice grip," he added, with an impressed nod.

"Thanks, sir," I responded.

Rosun looked over my resume before handing it over to Pike, while a younger looking man walked in and sat down on the other side of Pike.

"Fang, I believe?" he asked and I nodded. "Brent Brown," he said, extending his arm. "Nice to meet you."

"You too, sir," I replied.

He sat down next to Rosun, while the three of them passed around my resume. They exchanged meaningful glances back and forth that I couldn't decipher, and Pike leaned over to whisper something to Rosun.

For some reason I wasn't nervous. Technically, this was one of my first official job offers after the freelances I had been doing for various papers, but I had never had a paper come up to me and offer an interview or potential job offer. I had some mixed feelings about this job.

First, it was a good job for a prestigious paper that would do wonders for my career. It paid more, and it was permanent; no more wandering around every few weeks going to and from wherever my freelance editor went.

However, I had no idea where my career was going. I sort of fell into this writing career off of my blog, and honestly had no intention of sticking with it at first, but at this moment, I had nothing else going for me. As for money, I was completely fine with the amount I was getting paid now, since my editor paid for airfare and hotel rooms. I had a good sum of money saved up in my bank account, and could probably afford an apartment of my own.

And lastly, this was a permanent position. Something I had never heard of before. In my whole lifetime, nothing had been permanent, not even the shack in Florida that was our makeshift house for a while. And of course, this position was in New York, the same place where Max was. It would be hard, and not to mention rude, to ignore her, but could I live with her again? Could she live with me again? Honestly, I didn't know if I can do it.

"So Fang," Rosun started, and although he gave me no introduction, he led me to believe that he was in charge of the other two guys. "Tell me a little about yourself."

I always hated this question, whenever someone would ask me. "Like what sir?"

"How did you get involved with journalism?"

I cleared my throat. "I had a blog when I was a teenager. I started writing freelance to be able to live on my own. My current editor started following my work and offered to pick me up in his firm, so now I get assigned pieces and move around a lot."

Rosun nodded and started jotting down notes. "I see you have no education experience."

I looked him straight in the eye. "I moved around a lot as a kid so I was homeschooled. I didn't have enough money for college." Not quite a lie, if you consider homeschooling to be the equivalent of Google. And truthfully, we didn't have enough money for any of us to go to college; Nudge was the first of us to go.

They nodded, but I could tell they weren't pleased.

Pike looked at me.

"How old were you when you started writing?" he asked.

"Eighteen, when I started writing freelance, twenty-one when my editor picked me up."

"You didn't have any other job offers in the past four years?" Rosun asked, his voice flat.

"No sir." I said. "I liked moving around. I didn't want a new job."

This one raised a few eyebrows, but they seemed to drop the subject for some reason.

Brown spoke up. "What was your favorite article you worked on?"

I had to think about this one for a moment. Usually I forgot about my articles a few months later; I had written so many, about two a week, and I could not possibly keep up with that amount of writing.

"I enjoyed writing for the presidential primaries two years ago," I said, and Rosun wrote something down in his notepad.

"Tell us about that," Pike offered.

I swallowed, starting to feel uncomfortable with the amount I was talking. "I was picked up by a magazine to follow the democratic primaries for a few months. A few other young reporters as well. One of the most interesting projects I've worked on, and it was pretty long term; I did it for about a year."

The three of them were quiet for a moment, and I looked down at my hands.

I heard one of them cough, so I looked up, and Rosun was shaking his head, looking down at his notepad. Pike looked at me.

"Well Fang, our mind was pretty made up even before your interview. Your portfolio is impressive. Some of the periodicals you've worked for are very established. We just invited you in her for an unofficial interview, but we'd like to extend you a two year offer. You'd work for some odds and ends on the paper for two years, and we can decide what to do after that," Pike said.

I sighed slowly. "Thank you," I said, standing up to shake his hand. I shook hands with the three of them before sitting back down.

I thought for a moment before Rosun spoke up. "You have until midnight tonight to give us your decision."

"Thank you, sir," I responded.

"We look forward to hearing from you," Pike responded, collecting his things, and standing up. Rosun shuffled his papers, and following Pike out of the conference room, while Brown followed me out.

"Nice meeting you," he said, as we parted ways in the hallway. "Congratulations."

"Thanks," I murmured, and turned down the hallway to take the stairs. I checked my watch, took out my phone, and texted Nudge to ask where to meet her for lunch.

* * *

><p><em>There was a knock on my door, and I ran my fingers through my hair before I answered it. Max was standing in the doorway, wringing her hands.<em>

"_Ready?" she asked, and I nodded._

"_Did you choose a place?" I asked, shoving my wallet into my pocket._

_Max shook her head. "I figured we can just walk down Main Street and see which one looks the least crowded," she responded with a small smile. _

_I nodded. "Sounds good."_

_We made our way down the stairs in silence and noticed that the living room was empty. Max lead us out the front door, where we could hear everyone out in the backyard._

"_Should we say goodbye?" Max asked, turning back at me._

_I shrugged. "If you want to."_

_Max thought for a moment. "Nah."_

_We flew into town and landed in a secluded park, the spot we always landed in whenever we snuck into town. We've been in our house for a few months now; it was pretty small and rundown but it was out in the middle of the woods near the very southern tip of Florida._

_After an awkward and basically silent walk from the park into the downtown area, we ended up at a hole-in-the-wall diner that Max chose, one that the six of us usually eat at on our once a month ventures into two to go shopping._

_We were seated in a corner booth near the back of the restaurant, and we were pretty much alone except for a family of four that consisted of a baby in a high chair who kept turning around to look at us. Max had smiled at her when we first sat down and the baby blushed and turned back to her table as if nothing had happened._

_Max was casually perusing the menu, carefully making sure she wasn't looking up at me. After a while, I had decided what I wanted, but Max was still looking._

_The waitress came over to our unusually silent table and asked us if we were ready. _

_Max looked up for the first time. "Uh, yeah." She looked at me. "You go first."_

_I cleared my throat and ordered my meal, and deluxe cheeseburger with all the fixing and sides. Max order breakfast, the omlette special._

"_Breakfast?" I asked her, once the waitress had cleared away our menus and left us with glasses of water._

_Max shrugged. "Why not? The picture looked good."_

_I smiled at her, and she shyly smiled back. I watched and she placed her hands under her knees and started looking at the cluttered walls._

_I took a deep breath, starting to feel really nervous for the first time. I could tell Max was feeling uncomfortable and I didn't know what to do to make her feel comfortable around me. So I just stayed silent until she spoke up._

_After taking a sip of her water, she asked, "Did you hear what Nudge did at school?"_

_I shook my head. "What happened?"_

_Max struggled to not smile. "Apparently they were in the computer lab working on creating their own websites. Nudge said that it was for a grade or something in one of her classes, I don't remember which one. So apparently, Nudge had decided not to use the template and create her own design for the page, and she failed the assignment."_

"_Why?"_

_Max shook her head while rolling her eyes. "Nudge said her teacher was so impressed by the website that she didn't believe Nudge had designed it by herself."_

_I sighed, and Max laughed. "Of course Nudge put up a fight. Which resulted her in a detention for the next week."_

"_She takes after you," I said, and Max's eyes widened. _

"_Hey," she said. "She's not even close to how bad I would be if I was in school," she said with a slight laugh._

"_She needs to be more careful," Max added. "She's always going around making friends and showing off. It's a miracle that people don't know about her wings yet."_

"_Yes, because having friends is a bad thing," I retaliated, and Max narrowed her eyes._

"_You know what I mean. I agreed that she could go to school under certain circumstances, and one of those was that she acts normal," she said, taking a sip out of her water._

"_Out of everyone, Nudge is the most normal."_

"_Excuse me, are you saying that I'm not?"_

"_Yes."_

_I smiled at her, which made her grin. I was glad Max was more comfortable with me now; I had been getting nervous over the fact that she wasn't have a good time, but the conversation seemed to flow easier after that._

_A little while later, Max asked, "Can I ask you something?" between bites in her food._

_I nodded, and she took a drink of her soda. "Can I have a French fry?"_

_I looked up at her, and spun my plate around so the pile of fries was facing her. She took a handful and dunked them in the ketchup, before carefully eating them one by one._

"_That wasn't what you wanted to ask me," I pointed out, before eating more of my food._

"_It wasn't," she said, smiling slightly before looking back up at me._

_I waited patiently for her to continue, but she didn't. _

"_Max?"_

"_I, uh, just wanted to let you know that I am having a good time," she explained, looking down._

_I swallowed, wondering if my nerves were obvious earlier. "Me too."_

"_We don't often get the chance to hang out by ourselves. I'm enjoying it."_

"_Good," I said and looked at Max, who was gazing down at her hands._

"_That's not a question," I added when she didn't say anything else._

"_I um, just wanted to, um, ask if we could do this again."_

_I smiled, and looked down at my plate before looking up at Max, who was looking up at me from behind her eyelashes. When she saw I was smiling, the corners of her mouth curled up, but I could tell she was trying hard to control it._

"_Are you embarrassed?" I asked, teasingly._

"_No," she said, defensively and I laughed._

"_We'll do this again," I promised, and she smiled._

* * *

><p>"So?" was Nudge's first statement as she walked up to me outside of the hotel I was staying at, with her arms spread wide. "What's the verdict?"<p>

I shoved my cell phone in my pocket as I made my way over to her so we weren't talking down the street. When I reached her I said, "I got the job."

She squealed and brought me in for a hug, which I responded by placing one arm around her back, her chin resting on my shoulder.

"Fang, that's incredible!" she said, holding on to my arm, a huge smile crossing over her face. "Did you take it?"

I shook my head. "Don't know yet."

She narrowed her eyes. "Well, you're taking it, right?"

"I don't know yet," I repeated, and she huffed.

"Ok Fang, be stubborn," she crossed her arms over her chest, then smiled slowly. "I'm so happy for you," she said, nudging my arm with her elbow.

"Thanks," I responded, fully meaning it.

"So, shall we eat? I'm starved. I just got out of class. I've been at it since eight AM," Nudge started, as she started walking in the direction she came from. I followed her down the street.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"A place I know," she said. "Don't worry, it's less popular than the last one. At least at this hour."

I nodded, and we stopped at the corner waiting for traffic to slow.

"It's in Chinatown, which is on the other side of the city," she explained. "I was going to take the subway, but we can also take a cab."

"How do you stand the subway?" I asked, remembering the time for the dinner the other night, as well as those days in New York back when we were younger. I've never been a fan. It was too crowded, too dark, too loud, and just plain disgusting.

Nudge shrugged. "I try to stay away from peak hours, like between seven and eight in the morning, and between five and seven at night. That's pretty much rush hour and it's awful. But it's only eleven so it might not be that bad."

"All right," I replied reluctantly.

"It's really not that bad once you get used to it. Max uses the subway all the time," Nudge explained as we crossed the street. "And it's also a lot faster than walking for forty-five minutes."

I looked at Nudge, as we walked quickly, her a few steps in front of me, dodging large groups of people in the middle of the street. Nudge slowed down as we quickly approached a large building, and she held open the door for me as we walked inside.

"It's really nice that you're just a few blocks away from Grand Central," she explained, taking the lead down the steps. "It's a great neighborhood, and it makes it easy for us to come bother you during your lunch break," she added with a smile.

"I didn't take the job yet," I reminded her.

Nudge turned to look back at me. "You will. You better."

I sighed, but followed her silently for the rest of the way to the trains. While we were waiting on the platform Nudge mumbled to me, "We need to get you a Metro card. I can't keep swiping you."

"I'll pay you back," I said, but she waved her arm.

"It's not about the money, it's just a pain to put the cash back on the card, and I only put on money that I need," she explained.

"I'll still pay you back," I said.

"No, I'll just ask Max if she has an extra one. She probably does, since she has one with an unlimited amount for the month, and then she has an extra one for Nora."

"I don't want to use Max's," I said, but Nudge waved me off again.

"I'll ask her at lunch," she said.

"She's coming?" I asked, before I knew what I was saying. Nudge looked at me, her eyebrows crinkling together and a slight smile on her face.

"Of course she's coming," Nudge explained defensively.

"I thought she had to work," I said, quickly explaining myself. "She said that last night."

"Oh, two of the kids are sick, so their mother is taking the day off to take care of them. Usually Max will watch them in one is sick, but if there's more than one then one of the parents will stay home with them."

"How many kids does she watch?" I asked, once again talking with thinking.

Nudge started to speak louder as the train was arriving. "Three boys. Two are in school for most of the day. Max adores them."

She turned to look at me. "You should ask Max about that, not me."

I stayed quiet, and Nudge smirked in victory. She was cracking me, and she knew it.

When we reached the restaurant, Max was waiting outside for us, pacing back and forth with the baby in some strange wrap thing around her body. When she turned and faced us, she placed one finger to her lips.

"Hey," she said quietly. "He's sleeping."

Nudge nodded, and Max turned to smile at me.

"How did it go?" she asked.

"He got the job!" Nudge responded for me, squeezing my arm once again. I don't know why she kept touching me, but it was becoming pretty consistent.

"Fang, that's great," Max said warmly. "Did you take it?"

"He doesn't know yet," Nudge said rolling her eyes.

"Um, actually I was having a conversation with Fang, but thank you," Max said, with a slight smile. Nudge smirked back at her.

"Thanks," I said quickly, and Max responded with a smile.

"Shall we head in? I'm starving," Nudge suggested, leading the way up the short staircase that lead to the front door. Max followed her after giving me a slight smile, leaving me in the back.

We were seated at a small table right by the window, Nudge and Max on one side and me on the opposite, directly across from Max. As soon as the waiter placed out our menus, Nudge excused herself to go to the bathroom.

"So we usually just order a bunch of stuff, and my picky-eater isn't here, so we don't have to worry about her," Max said with a smile, glancing down at the menu.

"Where is she?" I asked, once again without thinking. I picked up my water glass to take a sip trying to cover it up.

Max looked at me. "Nora? Well, the kindergarten I send her to is only a half day, but right now she's at the afterschool daycare. I figured that I'm paying for it, so she might as well go every day. And she loves it."

I put down my glass. I couldn't image Max sending her kids to daycare. That just seemed like such a un-Max-like thing to do. I exhaled, looking at Max, thinking about how much of whom she is now that I really understand.

Max adjusted the fabric against her neck that supported the baby carrying thing. She closed her eyes and sighed heavily.

"I hate this thing," she said, adjusting the child in her lap. "It gives me nicks in my neck."

"Then don't wear it," Nudge said appearing from behind the table. Max rolled her eyes.

"What else I am supposed to do?" Max asked and Nudge shrugged.

Max sighed again and turned to me. "Nudge got me this stupid wrap thing so I can carry Matty—"

"You _wear_ him, not carry him," Nudge quipped.

"See, that's even worse. Why would I wear a baby?"

"It's just what's it called."

Max rolled her eyes and turned back to me. "Whatever. Nudge bought me this because I was complaining about the stroller, because I hate strollers, but this new wrap is worse. The only reason why I wear it is because I can walk pretty fast and both of my hands are free. I miss running people over with the stroller."

"Why don't you use the other carrier if this one is uncomfortable?" Nudge offered.

"That one's on my back, and I like to watch and make sure that Matty's ok," Max explained and Nudge rolled her eyes at her.

It was silent for a few moments, as I looked back and forth between them. Nudge turned to Max.

"I keep forgetting that Fang's been in the 'normal' world longer than we have. He probably thinks we're crazy," Nudge explained, and Max smiled.

"Speak for yourself," Max retaliated, then turned to look at me. She blinked once, and then looked down at the sleeping child positioned in her lap. When she looked back up at me, her eyes had changed, and within the depths of them laid some emotion that I couldn't define, but it made my stomach crawl. I felt a flush across my collar bone, and for some reason I couldn't look away from her gaze. In a flash, the emotion was gone and her eyes were shining again, and she smiled.

"Should we order?" she asked, as if everything was fine. Nudge looked back and forth between the two of us.

"Sure," I responded, pretending it was as well.

"So Fang," Max said, a little while later, after the waiter had wrote down our food. "What are planning on doing for the job?"

"The position is for two years," I said.

"Does it pay well?" she asked.

I shrugged. "It's all relative. I don't really spend that much money."

Max nodded. "What are you thinking about doing?"

"I think you should take it," Nudge cut in. "You must get exhausted from traveling so much. And it makes it awfully hard for us to make time to meet you."

"Nudge, it's not your decision," Max warned, just as the baby stirred in her lap. She glanced down at him, then looked back up at me.

"I don't mind moving," I said, defending myself, and Nudge gave me a stern look.

"Isn't it expensive?" she asked.

"Not really," I said, shrugging. "My editor pays for my airfare and hotel rooms."

"See, I never understood that," Nudge said. "Why do you take a plane? Can't you just fly there on your own? Every time we go down to Florida with her kids we have to go by plane and I hate it."

"It would be a little difficult to explain why I don't need a plane ticket," I explained slowly, and Nudge sighed.

The three of us were quiet for a moment, before Nudge spoke up again.

"Well anyway, New York is a great city," she said, and Max cut her off with a glare.

"New York is a great city for you," she said. "Not everyone. I hate it. I would much rather be in a small town somewhere."

"But anyway," Nudge said, waving her arm in front of Max. "Take the job."

I looked down in my lap, where my hands were folded. I couldn't even vocalize how much I wanted to take the job, but I was terrified. It was the first permanent job I ever had which would mean I was stuck here for two years. What if I got bored with the job or what I was working on?

And even worse, I was in the same city as Max. Which could be classified as either a good or a bad thing. It would be impossible to ignore her, and I probably couldn't even bring myself to do it, yet it would be just as difficult to pretend that everything was fine.

"I want to," I admitted, looking up. They both smiled.

"Fang, that's fantastic! Oh my god, I'm so excited," Nudge squealed. "This is going to be so much fun, we can hang out all the time. Seriously, I've missed hanging out with you."

I looked back down, not wanting to hear that. Surprisingly, Max caught on.

"Nudge," she warned.

"So you're definitely taking it?" Nudge asked, ignoring her. I shrugged.

"Where are you going to stay?"

I looked up, not even thinking about living arrangements. "I guess I'll stay in a hotel until I find an apartment."

Max and Nudge looked at each other.

"Don't be ridiculous," Max said, taking a drink of her water. She put down her glass. "You'll stay with us."

My heart leaped, and Nudge looked at her in shock, then tried to cover it up with a smile.

"I don't want to impose."

Max shook her head, rolling her eyes. "You wouldn't be imposing. You'd actually be a big help with my kids, and the den has a door to it so you'd have privacy and it'd be cheaper than staying in a hotel."

"Oh, Fang you should come stay with us! Seriously, it wouldn't be a problem at all," Nudge exclaimed, clasping her hands together.

I opened my mouth at first to say no, and I looked up to see Nudge's harsh glare. I bit my tongue and opened my mouth to say no a little more sternly, however something in Max's expression caught my eye.

She seemed a bit hopeful. I don't know how to describe it, but a small smile teased her lips and her eyes were patient and waiting, something that Max had never been good at, and also very expectant. I could tell she wanted me to say yes, that I would move in with them temporarily until I found my own place, but deep down in her eyes I knew she knew I was going to decline.

And that's when I saw it. The weird expression that she had been so good at covering up around me finally leaked through and I could tell she was hurt.

"Sure," I said, watching both of their eyes light up. Nudge grinned largely and laughed, while Max smiled silently and looked down at the boy sleeping in her lap.

I looked back down at my hands, wondering what I had just gotten myself into.

* * *

><p><strong>[I'm sorry if this chapter seemed kind of bland, but I think it was necessary for the plot. The first draft of this I had gotten so carried away with Max and Fang during their lunch that I completely forgot the whole point of the lunch was to have Max ask Fang to move in! I had completely finished the chapter and started to finish the next one and I was like "wait... I'm missing a step here." It was bad. But anyway, let me know what you think!]<strong>


	6. Chapter 6

**[This week has been crazy! And it came with the worst case of writer's block and I'm running out of my pre-written chapters. After this one, I have one more written and then three or four chapters already started but not completed. I just can't seem to focus on one chapter at a time and it's awful. I jumped all the way to the end of the story. **

**Anyway, I really enjoyed writing this chapter so I hope you enjoy reading it too!]**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Six:<strong>

"Is this all you have?" Max asked me, greeting me in hotel lobby earlier that weekend.

I looked at her, then down at my lone black duffel bag, before shrugging. "Yeah."

Without another word, Max led me outside the hotel and stopped in front of the doors.

"It's about a twenty-minute walk. That okay?" she asked and I nodded. I followed Max as she led me towards the left, with Max walking on step in front of me.

"Where are the kids?" I couldn't help but asking.

"At the apartment with Nudge," she replied. "She has a paper to write so I told her I would meet you. I know I wasn't exactly your first choice escort," she added with a smile.

Actually, it was the contrary, but I didn't say anything.

The walk was silent and somewhat awkward, as we only talked when we had something to say. I was glad that Max didn't feel the need to fill the silence with unimportant banter.

Shortly after, we arrived in front of their building and Max unlocked the exterior door that led us inside to the hallway.

"It looks different during the day," I commented and Max nodded.

"Yeah I know. Less scary."

I followed Max up the stairs to the apartment and she led me through the unlocked door. She slipped off her shoes immediately, tossing them against the wall. I walked behind her as she entered the living room.

"Hi Mommy," Nora said, looking up from her coloring book. She was sitting on her knees leaning against the coffee table.

Max leaned down to kiss her on the forehead. "Hey sweetie. You remember Fang right?"

Nora looked at me and nodded slowly.

"He's going to stay with us for a little while," she said. "Remember? We talked about it a few days ago."

"Oh yeah," Nora said slowly. She looked at me again, before turning back to her coloring book.

Max looked into a bedroom while standing in the doorway. "Nudge? I'm back."

"Ok," came a mumbled response. Max backed away and looked at me.

"You can put your bag down, you know," she said. "Make yourself at home."

I dropped my duffel behind my feet, so it was leaning against the wall and out of the way. Max looked at me for a slow moment before turning back to Nora.

"Did you pick up your toys like I asked you to?" Max said to Nora, who nodded without looking up. "Thank you," Max replied cheerfully, plopping a kiss on Nora's forehead.

"Are you hungry?" Max asked me. "I'm going to start lunch soon anyway."

"No, I'm all right," I responded, although I was getting pretty hungry.

"Ok," Max answered, and we stood across the room from each other, with Nora in between us for a long, awkward moment.

"You know where everything is right? It's not that big of an apartment," Max said after a pause.

"Yeah, sort of."

"Ok, well this is the living room, obviously," Max said with a smile. "That is Matty and Nora's room," she continued, point to the closed door on her right.

"This one is the room Nudge and I share," she said, pointing with her thumb to the door on the left.

"Through the closed double doors is our den, but you'll be staying on the couch in there," she said. "I just need to vacuum."

"You don't have to do that," I said. "I don't mind."

"Oh trust me, I need to," she said, smiling again. "I was waiting for that one," she said, pointing to Nora and grinning at her, "to pick up all of her toys."

I nodded, and Max continued talking.

"Anyway, down here is our dining room-slash-kitchen," she explained, walking through the entry way her left. I followed her, moving around Nora, and stood next to Max, our shoulders almost touching in the tight squeeze.

"And the bathroom is right there," she said, pointing to a door tucked in the corner of the room.

"Ok, sounds good."

We stood there again for another awkward moment, and I could tell it wouldn't be our last. I stuffed my hands into my pockets and from the corner of my eye I saw Max bite her lip.

I inhaled before asking, "Do you need help with lunch?"

Max looked at me, surprised, before stating, "No, I'm good. I'm just going to make Nora a sandwich."

"Oh, ok," I said.

"I mean, you can help if you would like, but it's probably just going to be peanut butter and jelly, and I was just going to warm up leftovers for myself. You're more than welcome to help yourself to anything," she explained.

I nodded, and stood back a little bit as I watched open up some cabinets. Nudge appeared behind me, placing a hand on my back.

"Hey Fang," she said, smiling at me. "Are you excited? I can't wait to see your shining face every morning."

I glared at her from the corner of my eyes, and she laughed.

"How's your essay going?" Max asked, her back facing us. Nudge moved to the fridge and got out a can of soda.

"I just turned it in online and its due in fifteen minutes. So I'd say it went pretty well," she explained, leaning against the counter next to Max. She placed the can behind her, and pulled her hair into a bun.

"I have a date tonight with Jack, just to let you know," she said, snapping the rubber band around her hair.

Max didn't say anything, but she nodded.

"I don't know what time I'll be back, but don't expect me for dinner," she added, purposely looking at me, and then at Max.

"Yeah all right, sounds good," Max said, her voice flat.

"Oh, and Iggy called me earlier. He wants to talk to you both sometime later her said. Whenever you get the chance," Nudge explained, walking past me and into the living room.

Max and I were silent for a moment, as she grabbed a handful of pretzels onto Nora's plate. She then turned around, the plate and a sippy cup in her hands and motioned to the doorway behind me.

I followed her out into the living room to where she placed Nora's plate on the coffee table, and wiped her hands on her jeans.

"Nora, why don't you sit on the couch and eat your food," she suggested, then turned to me.

"I'm going to call Iggy before Matty wakes up from his nap," she said, taking her phone out of her pocket. "You can take a seat or something, put on the tv, read a magazine…" she trailed off, waving with her hand around the apartment. I nodded in response, got my laptop out of my bag and before sitting down in the lone arm chair close to corner. Max sat down on the couch next to Nora.

"Hey, Ella," Max said into the phone, followed by a quick laugh.

"I'm good, what about you? How's the married life treating you?" Max asked with a short laugh, and I opened up my laptop to start my next project.

Max was probably on the phone for about 10 minutes before the baby starting crying. Max sat up straighter on the couch and looked at me.

"Hey, I have to go, Matty just woke up from his nap. I'll put Fang on the phone," Max said, standing up. "Yeah ok. Love you too. Bye."

Max tossed her cell phone into my lap, and opened the door to the other bedroom. Just as she stepped in a cheerful hello rose from her lips, and I put the phone to my ear.

"Hello?" I answered into the phone.

"Fang!" Ella said, with a short laugh. "How are you? I haven't heard from you in forever!"

"I'm good. You?"

Ella laughed again. "I'm fantastic, thanks. The past couple of weeks have been completely amazing."

"Oh? You're not tired of Iggy yet?" I asked, leaning back in the chair.

Ella chuckled. "No, of course not."

"Good," I replied, and heard murmuring on the other end.

"Is that Fang?" I heard Iggy say, and Ella responded in agreement. There was some shuffling on the other side, and Ella spoke up again.

"Iggy wants to talk to you, but I'm sure we'll catch up some other time. It was nice talking to you, Fang. You should call more often."

"Yeah, all right," I said, and then the phone was handed off.

"Fang?" Iggy asked.

"Hey," I answered.

"Hey," he said. "How's New York?"

"Good," I answered. "And Arizona?"

"It's disgustingly hot," he responded, with a laugh. "But we basically got the house unpacked within the last week or so. It only took us about two months. I think the struggle we had while packing for the honeymoon gave us the motivation to finish unpacking."

"Yeah," I said, switching the phone to the other side of my head.

"So," Iggy said, "how's Max?"

I swallowed. "Good."

"Just good? You guys do anything yet?"

"I just got here today," I answered. I looked up in time to see Max pass in front of the doorway as she paced inside the bedroom, the boy on her shoulder.

"I thought you got lunch one day," he said, sounding confused.

"Oh yeah, we did."

Iggy was silent for a moment. "Right. So what's the plan for winning her back? I have my money down that you'll be sharing a bed within the next month."

I blinked slowly, exhaling. "There's no plan."

"Oh come on. She invited you to stay with her. And you actually accepted after how many years? Admit it, you're missing her."

I sighed. I've missed Max since the moment I left, and Iggy was the only one who knew that.

"Iggy."

"What?" he asked.

"No," I said, leaving it at that.

Iggy laughed. "Ok, I'll make you a deal. When's the next time I'll see you?"

"Never," I said, and I could practically feel Iggy's glare through the phone.

"Well, the next time we get together, I bet you that you that this whole mess between you and Max will be resolved."

I rolled my eyes but of course, he couldn't see. "Don't start counting your pennies."

Iggy laughed. "So how does Max look today?" he asked. "I bet the pants she's wearing really accentuate her curves."

I watched Max walk in front of the doorway with the boy in her arms, rubbing his back. She didn't see my looking, as her back was turned towards me.

"Iggy," I warned again, and he laughed.

"Made you look, didn't I?"

"No," I lied, my voice harsh enough that Nora looked up at me from her coloring book. On the other end of the phone, I heard Ella saying something that I couldn't make out.

"What? Don't you want your sister to be happy?" Iggy asked, directed towards Ella. "Well I think Fang wants her to be happy as well. Isn't that right, Fang?"

I stayed silent, looking down at the laptop in my lap.

Iggy chuckled. "Thought so. Listen, I'll let you go. Catch up with Max, try to woo her. She's spent the past eight years without a man so remind her what it's like. Don't forget that she's missed you."

"Uh huh," I said, closing my eyes in annoyance. This was so not what I needed right now. Another reminder of what I had thrown away after I had just been invited to stay with her for whoever knows how long.

"All right. Keep me posted man. I'm rooting for you guys."

"Bye, Iggy," I said, cutting him off, and he laughed again.

"Talk to you later, man."

* * *

><p>"<em>Why are we doing this again?" Max complained, as she sat on the edge of the bed of the room she was sharing with the girls while staying at Dr. Martinez's house for the holidays. As I was tying my shoes, I glanced up at her.<em>

"_Because your sister asked us to?" I tried, making her roll her eyes. "Because Iggy wanted us to? Because we are nice people?" _

"_Ugh," Max complained, and flung herself backwards on the bed, her hair spiraling outwards like Medusa's. I stood up, rubbed my hands on my pants, and made my way over to the bed, standing in front of her. I shoved my hands in my pockets, and waited for Max to open her eyes._

"_Where are we going again?" Max asked, sounding less than pleased._

"_Some restaurant," I answered._

"_How nice is this restaurant?" she asked._

"_What you're wearing is fine," I said, taking the moment to eye her. She noticed and glared at me._

_Sighing, Max sat up on the bed. She looked up at me with a bored expression and placed her hands on her knees._

"_All right. Let's get this over with," she said, sighing again. I smiled, and quickly, before I could change my mind, I leaned down at gave her a small kiss of her lips. When I pulled away, she blinked._

"_What was that for?" she asked._

_I shrugged, starting to back away, when Max reached out and grabbed my wrist. She looked directly into my eyes, her face serious and flat._

_For a second I got really nervous, like I did something wrong. We had been dating for quite a few months now, and we were still very wary around each other. Out of habit, it seemed like I was always the one who initiated everything, the touching, the kissing, the time alone, and Max was always the one to pull back and put an end to it._

_I didn't mind that much because that's just the way it was, and Max liked to have control for the majority of the time, however, being around Max always made me somewhat nervous._

"_You should do that more often," she said, not letting go of my wrist._

"_Do what?" I said, confused._

"_Kiss me like that," she said flatly._

_I blinked in confusion, and stared at her. Max simply rolled her eyes, placed her other hand on the back of my neck, and pulled me closer until our lips met. I closed my eyes, and we stayed like that for a few breaths, until Max started to slowly fall backwards again, dragging me along with her by the back of my head, until her back was completely on the bed and I was hovering a few inches above her, my wrist down by her hip and my other palm supporting myself up by her head. _

_Max unhooked her hand from my wrist and promptly tangled it in my hair, while she let her other hand wander its way down my back. I moved both of my hands up towards her shoulders so I could prop myself up better._

_Max pulled away first of course, both of her hands now near my shoulder blades, and I opened my eyes, slightly breathless. Max just smirked._

"_Like that," she clarified again, and I looked down, away from her gaze, slightly embarrassed._

_I looked back up quickly after I had noticed where my sight of vision had landed, and looked at Max's face. Of course, Max had noticed and a wicked smile flashed across her expression._

"_What?" she asked._

"_Sorry," I said quickly._

_Max rolled her eyes. "It's nothing you haven't seen before."_

_I could feel my face start to get hot, and Max just grinned. She shifted herself a little and looked into my eyes._

"_So?" she asked, staring at me. I raised one eyebrow._

"_I'm waiting," she said impatiently. _

_Sighing, I slowly pressed my lips to hers again, feeling her smile under me. I cupped her chin gently in my hand, and then pulled backwards. Max stared at me in shock._

"_Stop stalling," I said, as I backed away from the bed. Max rose so she was sitting, her mouth open in defense._

"_I am not—"she started, then glared at me. "Fine," she muttered, standing up. "But we're not done here."_

"_Oh I know we're not," I promised, tugging on her fingers on she walked past me. She turned around to narrow her eyes at me, and pulled her hand out of my grasp._

"_Iggy and Ella just need to get over themselves. I'm not going on dates with them forever. This freaking sucks. I don't know why they can't be like a normal couple and just hook up all the time instead of dating," she complained, walking down the hallway out of the bedroom._

"_I remember we started off going on a few dates," I defended. Max scoffed._

"_They were hardly dates. And it wasn't like we wasted much time from there either," she said, speaking quietly now as we were sure others could hear us._

"_And whose fault was this? You're the tease in this relationship."_

_Max spun around and pointed a finger at me. "Watch it."_

_I chuckled under my breath, which caused Max to glare at me. "Come on," I said, nudging her forward. "Let's go play matchmaker."_

* * *

><p>With a sigh, I concluded my article and sat back in the chair that I was sitting in since my phone call with Iggy. It was the first article I had written at my new job, and I really tried to raise the bar for myself.<p>

I saved it, and shut down my laptop, stuffing it back into the case and then into my bag. I looked around the living room, leaning forward, placing my hands on my knees.

The doors to the bedrooms were closed, and Max just let the baby crawl around while she and Nora were in the kitchen. I didn't know how safe that was, considering Max couldn't see him and I didn't know how baby proof her house was. Knowing Max, she was probably pretty precautious.

I watched him for a moment, and he seemed pretty content playing with the soft blocks where he was. I was going to get up and walk into the kitchen to see if I could help Max with anything, but I didn't want to just leave the kid.

I decided to get up and walk over to where I could see still see him. Watching me get up, he turned his head as he watched me walk over to the kitchen doorway, in which he promptly sat up and got onto his knees and crawled over to me.

I got a little nervous because I didn't know where he was going or if I should follow. Making my decision for me, he crawled past me and into the kitchen, and I walked slowly behind him.

"Oh hello there Matty," Max said in a cheerful voice, leaning down to greet him. The boy smiled and sat down by her feet. "Would you like to help me and Nora?"

I watched awkwardly for a moment, standing away from the counter. Max was standing at the stove, surrounded by a few pots, and Nora was standing on a chair facing the counter. I couldn't tell what they were making, but Nora was running her finger through a pile of breadcrumbs.

Max bent down and gave the baby a clean wooden spoon which he decided to gnaw on by her feet. She turned to me and smiled.

"Hey," she said. "You didn't need to follow him in here."

I looked at her and swallowed. "I didn't."

"Oh, all right," she said.

"Need help?"

"Um," Max started, looking at the stove. "No, I'm—" she started and then looked back at me.

"Yeah, sure," she said with a smile. "Can you just put the gate up in the doorway? I don't want Matty crawling away where I'm not looking."

I looked behind me, looking for the gate she was talking about.

"It's the white plastic thing, behind the couch," Max explained, and I went to get it.

Setting it up by leaning against the doorway, I said, "You left him out in the living room before."

I paused for a moment, thinking to myself why I asked that. I've been talking out of line a lot recently, and I knew it had to do with the fact that I was around Max so much. I held my breath, hoping she wouldn't get mad.

"You were out there," she said, her back still turned towards me. She didn't sound mad, but what she said just made me feel a little guilty. Max obviously trusted me with the kid, which was weird because I had never taken care of a baby before and I barely knew him.

Without saying anything, I walked over to the counter, and stayed behind Max until she said something.

"I'm just making pasta and chicken cutlets and broccoli. I'm waiting for the chicken to finish up, and then we can eat. If you can just but the dirty pots in the sink that would be great."

"Do you want me to wash them?" I asked, picking up a handful of them.

"No, that's all right, Nora and I do them after dinner," she said.

"Well, I can just do them now," I said, standing by the sink, feeling bad that Max was doing all of this work.

"All right," she said slowly. "Have Nora help you, she's the best at washing dishes," Max added with a smile looking down at Nora, and she looked back up at Max. Nora got down off of the stool and walked over next to me, and peered over into the sink.

"Oh," Max said, wiping her hands on her shirt. "Here, babe," she said, bringing the chair over to the sink. Nora climbed up on to it.

"Nora likes to dry," Max said, walking back over to the stove, expertly maneuvering around the baby crawling on the floor.

I turned on the water and put dab of soap on the sponge, while the baby crawled over to us and placed his hands on the edge of Nora's chair as he stood up.

He squealed and she looked down at him, holding the dish towel in her hand.

"Matty, come over here," Max called from the stove. "Look what I have!" she exclaimed, holding up another dish towel, and the baby crawled back over to her, tugging on the towel from her hands and putting an end of it in his mouth.

"Matty likes to help me dry," Nora explained in a quiet voice. I looked down at her, and she was carefully watching me scrub the grease off of the pan.

"Oh?" I said, because I felt like I needed to say something, and Nora nodded.

"Hey Fang, can you grab the plates please?" Max asked me, and I looked at her. "They're above your head," she said motioning with her hand to the cabinets. I wiped my hands dry on my jeans, and got down a stack of plastic plates.

"Nora can you set the table for me, please?" Max asked, and Nora scrambled down off the chair and I handed her the plates.

"Thank you," Max said, walking over to me with a newly dirty pan. "Ok, we're basically done. We can finish doing that after dinner," Max said to me.

I turned the water off, and made my way to the table, where Max was setting out bowls of food. Nora had climbed into a chair, and Max had scooped up the baby and put him in the high chair that was near the table. I took a seat in the only empty seat available, next to Nora and across from Max. I watched Max serve her, and then watched as she cut up the chicken into small pieces.

I didn't start eating until Max was seated, and she looked at me.

"What?"

"I was waiting for you," I explained.

"You didn't have to do that," she said, and I shrugged.

I looked down at my plate. It looked good, but I knew better. Max had made it and I wasn't going to complain about her cooking or anything to her face, but I was a little scared to say the least.

"I've gotten better cooking you know," she said defensively, as if she had read my mind. She pointed at Nora. "Nora happens to love my cooking."

I looked up at her and Max laughed. "Don't give me that look."

When Max turned away to pull apart some pieces of chicken for the baby, I took a bite of the pasta and chicken and gathered it on my fork.

Max was looking at me from the corner of her eye, and I noticed but didn't say anything. When I took another bite, I noticed her smug smile right before she turned her back towards me again.

A few minutes later, Nora had got up from the table and put her plate by the sink without being told, and then came back over to the table, and stood behind her chair.

"I'm done, Mommy," she said. Max looked at her, and then at the clock on the wall.

"Ok, you can watch _one_ TV show, and you still have to take a bath tonight. Would you like me to turn it on for you?"

"No, I can do it," she said, and then walked into the living room.

"I can't believe she ate all of her chicken," Max said, looking behind her shoulder over at the sink. "Usually that's a struggle. It must be because you're here," she said with a smile. "Nora eats pretty well around other people."

I nodded. "She's very well mannered."

Max beamed; that was obviously a compliment. "Thanks."

A while later, after the kids were both asleep and I had listened to Max wrangle Nora into the bath after a game filled with lots of giggles, Max and I were at the sink finishing up the last of the dishes and loading the dishwasher, shoulder to shoulder and washing slowly, as to not bump hands.

"So, I don't mean to brag, but I'm going to anyway," Max announced, after a few moments of awkward silence. "I watched you eat everything without complaining."

I turned to look at her and narrowed my eyes, while she smiled at me, and a familiar feeling made its way up to my throat. I turned back to the sink.

Thankfully, I didn't have to respond because Nudge came into the apartment like an elephant in a china shop. I turned around in time to see her basically leap over the plastic gate that was still in the doorway.

"Oh my god," she breathed, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Max smile quickly, but then it disappeared.

"What?" Max asked, not bothering to turn around.

Wiping my hands on the sides of my shirt, I turned around to face Nudge, who had her hands grasped behind her back and a huge smile behind her face. She was bouncing back and force, shifting her weight from her toes to her heels and she looked like she was about to explode.

"Guess what?" she asked, her voice tight and high. She bit her lips, still smiling, and she raised her eyebrows.

Max shut off the water and threw the sponge into the sink. Slowly, she turned to the dishwasher on her left and closed the door, and I could tell that Nudge was almost through her patience.

"What?" she asked finally, turning around to face Nudge, and crossing her arms so her elbow bumped into mine. I pulled back instantly, without thinking, and then immediately regretted it, hoping Max didn't notice.

Nudge didn't miss a beat, and flung her hand out from behind her, putting it in front of our faces.

"Jack proposed!"

I blinked, in shock, while Max smiled. Nudge was beaming from ear to ear, and jumping up and down like a six year old.

"Congratulations!" Max said, and pulled Nudge in for a hug. Nudge squealed against her should and Max laughed.

"I am like, so incredibly happy right now," Nudge said, while she pulled back from Max. She turned to me and smiled.

I held out one of my arms, and Nudge pressed herself against me, laughing, and wrapped both of her arms around me tightly. She pressed her forehead into my shoulder and then pulled away quickly still smiling.

"This is seriously the best," Nudge said. "And look at this ring! Tell me it's not gorgeous," she added, flashing her hand in Max's face again.

"Yeah, that's a nice ring," Max said with a smile on her face. I got a funny feeling in my stomach but I ignored it.

"And it was so romantic," Nudge gushed. "Like, he took me out to our favorite restaurant and he paid and then we walked to get gelato and we ended up in Union Square and walked around a bit just talking and then we made our way to the park and he got down on one knee and just asked me. And there were so many people around and I cried and it was just the best."

Max laughed. "That sounds perfect."

"Oh, Max it was," she sighed. "I was seriously in shock and was so surprised. I just couldn't believe it. But I'm so happy. So happy."

Nudge took a deep breath and then sighed. "Well, I need to call Angel. And Ella."

Max smiled at her again, and Nudge squealed one last time before she bounced away into the living room.

Max, still smiling, turned to me, before her face fell. "What's that look for?"

"What look?"

She pointed at me. "The one on your face. It looks like you drank sour milk."

I swallowed, and couldn't bear to tell her what I was thinking. Instead I shrugged, and Max nodded. Without questioning anymore, Max turned back to the sink again to clean the last pan.

"How well do you know Jack?" I asked her, as I folded over the dish towel in my hands.

Max gave me a sideways glance. "A little protective are we? Nudge is twenty-two years old, definitely capable of taking care of herself. She knows better than to date completely random guys."

I stayed silent, and Max glanced back up at me. "That means a lot," she said quietly, and I looked down at her.

"What?"

"That you care."

I paused for a moment, feeling stung. That hurt more than I would've liked to admit.

I cleared my throat but didn't say anything. Max continued talking.

"Jack's a good guy. He came to me when he was thinking about proposing, just to see if he could gauge her reaction. I told him she would probably say yes."

I nodded, but didn't say anything. Embarrassingly, I was still recovering from the previous comment.

"I'll probably tell her that when she gets over the initial shock," she said with a laugh. "I'm never getting any sleep tonight. She'll just keep talking."

"Does he know about her wings?" I asked suddenly and Max nodded.

"Of course he does, they were dating for about forever, as you know, she had to have told you," Max said explained. "He knows about all of us. Well not everything, but about the wings definitely. Nudge told him before they had sex I'm sure. I'm surprised she didn't sleep over tonight."

I almost dropped the pan as Max was handing it off to me.

"_What?" _

Max looked at me sarcastically. "Really Fang?" she asked, placing her hands on her hips as she turned so her entire body was facing me.

I turned away from her, but I could practically feel her rolling her eyes. "Wow, so you can just come back in here and start caring about her now, after everything we've both been though."

I inhaled. I couldn't tell if Max was mad or just annoyed or what, and that bugged me. I didn't like being caught off guard or uncertain of what she was thinking.

"Sorry," I muttered without looking at her, simply because I didn't know what else to say. Max stared at me.

"Did you just apologize?"

"Yes."

Max laughed, and I looked up at her, shocked by her sudden change of emotion. "Wow," she said again, shaking her head. "You really have changed haven't you?"

I don't know what she meant by that, but the tugging on my chest gave me a hint that it wasn't something good.

* * *

><p><strong>[Gah, they're so adorable. :3 <strong>

**And I just want to thank everyone who has been reviewing! It means a lot that people take the time to leave a message. **

**I need some motivation to finish the next few chapters. Hopefully knowing that I know officially have just one left will be enough to make it through. We'll see how it goes.]**


	7. Chapter 7

**[A huge thank you to everyone who reviewed! I got the most reviews for the last chapter out of all the ones I posted so far! Ah, it was so exciting. :)**

**Enjoy this short (but sweet?) chapter!]**

* * *

><p><strong><span>Chapter Seven:<span>**

"Hey Fang," Nudge said, walking out of her room. I was sitting on the couch, folding the blanket I had used last night.

"Hey," I said, as she walked past me into the kitchen.

"Good morning, Nora," I overheard Nudge say from the kitchen. "Hey Max, did you ever get a chance to get the shampoo we needed after work the other day?"

"Oh man, I completely forgot. Do we need it?" I heard Max say.

"I used the last of it this morning."

I got up off of the couch and walked into the kitchen. Nora was sitting at the kitchen table, her frozen waffles swimming in a pool of syrup. Matt was sitting in his high chair eating dry cheerios off of the tray, and a bowl of cut up fruit on the side. Max was leaning against the counter, her palms behind her. She smiled at me when I came in.

"How do you feel about running some errands?" she asked me.

About an hour later, the five of us were outside of the apartment's garage, loading into Nudge's car. Max had to clean up Nora after her syrupy breakfast, while Nudge got Matt ready to go. I felt bad for sitting around idle, but it was too awkward and uncomfortable to help with Max's children.

It felt strange just to acknowledge that they're actually her kids, even though they are adopted. Most of the time I couldn't bring myself to even admit it. For some reason, I never really thought about Max having a family after we broke up, which I guess what pretty selfish of me, because if that's what made Max happy then she deserved it.

After a quick and somewhat uncomfortable ride to the store, Nudge maneuvered her way expertly through the parking garage to the super market.

"All right," Max said, after she had buckled Matt into the kid seat of the shopping cart. "Let's split up."

Max folded the shopping list in half, and then tore it along the crease. "Do you two want to go with Nora?" she asked, handing Nudge the paper.

"Yeah, that sounds good," Nudge said, and I nodded.

"Ok, come on little man," Max said to Matt, and she pushed him in the other direction.

"Take my hand, Nora," Nudge said, holding out an open palm. She quietly obliged, and I grabbed a cart.

"Ok, first things first. Shampoo, before I forget."

Nudge led us down an isle with Nora one step behind her, looking around. I hung back a few feet, feeling oddly weird about this situation.

Nudge was choosing between two different brands and held both out to Nora. "Which color?"

Nora pointed to the orange bottle, and Nudge smiled. "Good choice." She dropped the bottle into the cart and looked at me. "You ok?"

I nodded, and Nudge looked at me sideways. "If you say so."

Nora took her hand again, and Nudge checked with the list. This time, Nudge matched her stride to mine.

"So what's up with you and Max?" she asked slyly. Nora raised her head at the mention of her mother.

I shrugged. "Nothing."

"Oh come on. You two seem pretty chummy lately."

"Chummy?" I repeated.

"Well, you're being civil towards each other. You haven't argued yet, and if I knew any better I'd be worried."

I shrugged again.

Nudge gave me a long look before pointing me in the direction of the next isle.

"It's nice you know," she started, "that you guys are getting along. She really missed that. She missed you even. _I _missed you, but you already knew that," she added with a smile.

I swallowed, telling myself not to get too excited. I had missed them too, but that didn't mean anything was going to happen between Max and myself.

"Ok, do you want to pick out some snacks and I'll go get the bread?" she asked me, changing the subject.

"Sure," I said, and she nodded and turned around. Nora was left watching her walk away. She gave me a quick glance, but turning back to look at Nudge, who had turned the corner. Finally, Nora gripped the edge of the shopping cart while I pushed it along.

We made it to the snack isle, and I spoke up. "What kind of snacks do you like?"

Nora shrugged.

I tried again. "What does your mom usually buy?" I asked, stumbling a little over _your mom._

Nora pointed directly in front of her to a large selection of pretzels.

"Do you know which kind?"

Nora shook her head.

"Well, what's your favorite?"

"I like the long ones," she answered quietly.

"The pretzel sticks?" I asked, holding up a bag. Nora nodded.

"Ok then," I said, then looked at her for a moment. "I like those too," I added, and smiled at her. I was surprised when she smiled back.

I moved the cart along some more, with Nora still holding on.

"What else do you like?" I asked her.

"Goldfish," she replied.

"Goldfish it is," I responded, pulling another bag off of the shelf.

"And the wrinkly chips," Nora added.

I paused. "Wrinkly chips?"

Nora turned to look at me, her eyes wide. "Yeah, the wrinkled ones. They look like they're folded."

"Folded chips?" I asked again.

"Yeah," Nora said, before walking ahead a little. I quickened my step to catch up to her, knowing Max would probably kill me if I lost her , but she stopped, pointing to a bag of chips above her head.

I pulled them down off of the shelf. "Oh, these," I said, looking at a bag of Ridge's potato chips.

"Yes," Nora said. "See? They're wrinkly."

"They are," I responded, placing them in the cart.

A second later, Nudge was back.

"I picked up some pasta," she said, adding an armful of boxes to the cart. "They were on sale. And I got some cinnamon raison bread," Nudge added to Nora. "Your favorite."

Nora smiled up at her.

"Ok, next up, we need the pancake batter," she said, leading us to the baking isle.

"Let's get the bigger one," Nudge said, and I leaned down to pick it up.

"I can help you," Nora said, grabbing the handle of the carton and pulling on it tightly. We lifted it up together and she sighed heavily when we dropped it in the cart.

"Nice job," I told her, while Nudge gave her a high five.

"Awesome Nora! You lifted that whole thing!" Nudge said, and Nora smiled.

Nora came to stand next to me and she grinned while looking up at me. I smiled back without thinking.

* * *

><p>"<em>Ok so, milk is obviously a priority," Max said, pushing the cart inside the sliding doors. She led me to the frozen isle, without looking behind me to see if I was following. There was no doubt she knew I was.<em>

_I sped up so my stride matched hers. "Anything else you think we need?" she asked._

"_Eggs," I said. _

"_We have plenty," she said. "I just made some yesterday."_

"_I finished the last of them this morning."_

"_That was so selfish of you. Maybe I wanted some," Max said sarcastically, with a smile. "Ok, go get the eggs then, and I'll get the milk."_

_I politely obliged, and headed to the opposite end of the isle. Walking back towards Max, I watched her contemplating between two different brands. He fingers were on her chin and her other hand was on her hip. She didn't see me as I walked up to her._

_I placed the eggs on the seat of the cart, and dropped my hand to Max's elbow. When she didn't flinch, I moved my hand to her hip._

"_Fang," she scolded. "Not in public."_

_I looked, up above her head. "No one is watching."_

_She shrugged me away. "You know better than that."_

"_Knowing and doing are two different things," I replied, and she glared at me while trying not to smirk._

"_Now, just grab a random carton, and let's get a move on."_

"_I was trying to pick out the cheapest," she said, not moving from her spot._

"_Here," I said, reaching around her. "This one is on sale."_

_She sighed but I dropped it in the basket anyway._

"_What's next?" I asked, gripping the edge of the cart while she steered._

"_I don't know…" she grumbled, looking up at the banners on the ceiling noting the different aisles._

"_You don't have a list?" I asked._

"_Does it look like I have a list?" she quipped. I turned back to look at her, and she was casually glancing down the aisles as we past them. She caught me gazing at her, and glared in my direction. I turned one of the corners of my mouth into a smile._

_Max pushed the cart a little faster in order to keep up with me. We walked side by side down the length of the store, not saying a word but being comfortable with each other's company._

"_You don't know what we need?" she asked and I shook my head._

_Max sighed. "Ugh. Next time I'm going with Iggy," she said, before tossing me a smile, and I narrowed my eyes at her. _

"_Not enjoying yourself?" I asked._

_Max laughed quickly, before placing her hand on my elbow. "I am."_

"_Good."_

"_Ok well, anyway," she said, clearing her throat. After almost a year of dating, I had gotten used to the fact that she wasn't the touchy or emotional type. I've always known that though, it was nothing new. I probably would've freaked out if Max had knowing display any public affection._

"_I think we ran out of fruit too. We only had rotten bananas left when I ate this morning," I added, turning to go down the produce section._

"_Well, that's a start."_

"_Are blueberries in season? Angel wanted Ig to make muffins," I said, perusing the cartons._

"_Ok, we can grab a few," Max said, placing some bananas on the seat of the cart. I watched her as she starting sifting through the blueberry cartons, picking out which ones looked the freshest._

_She turned to me all of a sudden. "You can help instead of just watching me, you know."_

_I was surprised into a small smile. Walking over to stand next to her, we let our elbows bump occasionally as I snuck glances at her from the corner of my eye._

_She put the last cartoon of blueberries in the basket of the cart and started to walk away, leaving me standing behind, watching her go._

"_Could you hurry up? You have the rest of your life to stare at me. Let's get a move on."_

_With a slight chuckle, I bit the inside of my lip, slightly embarrassed that she had noticed. Reluctantly as always, I followed her, knowing I would follow her wherever she would go._

* * *

><p>"Hey guys," Max said as she came around the corner. "Did you get everything?"<p>

Nudge looked down at the list. "No quite." Then she looked at me and smirked before grabbing Nora's hand.

"Come on, let's finish this list," she said, and pulled the cart away from me, and smiled at Max and me while she walked away.

Max turned on me. "You barely got anything," she complained.

I peered into Max's cart which was half filled with a variety of fruits and vegetables, as well as an assortment of frozen food and milk.

"Impressed?" she asked.

"I would be more impressed if there were more ingredients and less prepared meals," I answered.

Max glared at me sideways, before she started walking. "I've become a champion grocery shopper. My cooking skills need some work."

She smiled back at me and I added, "Well you've certainly improved."

Her smile grew larger. "Thanks."

I nodded in response, as Max stopped in front of the chocolate chip display.

"I'm thinking of making chocolate chip cookies this week," she explained. "Any preference?"

I glanced down at the selection. "Aren't they all the same?"

Max gawked at me. "_No,"_ she said. "They are not the same."

She shook her head as she bent down and grabbed a handful of bags. Turning in the direction we were headed, she walked away leaving me with the cart and Matt.

I glanced down at the boy who was being unusually quiet for a baby. He seemed pretty content with his selection of toys attached by a plastic ring, and was gnawing on the end of one. Max had stopped at the end of the isle.

"Are you coming?"

I looked up and nodded, tentatively grabbing the handle of the cart and started to push it to where Max was standing.

"Do we need anything else?" she asked and I shrugged.

"Do you like anything else?" she asked again and I shook my head.

"Well you're easy to please."

"I am," I answered, and she smiled.

"Oh you know what, we should grab some deli meat for sandwiches. I think the last of it went bad."

Max led us down the maze of isles until we got to the back of the store, where she grabbed a number and waited for her turn.

"What do you like?" she said, looking in the glass case.

"Whatever you guys get."

This time she narrowed her eyes at me. "You know, you can have a say in the groceries we buy."

"I'm just a guest."

Max straightened and looked up at me, and I could tell by her eyes that I offended her.

"You're not just a guest Fang. Don't be so stupid," she said, in an annoyed.

I held back my sigh. I was just trying to be polite, especially since the both of them were already giving me so much more than I asked for or needed.

"And you don't need to be so polite either," Max continued, and I looked at her in surprise. "You're staying with us because we want you to, not just because we're trying to be nice. So don't act like it's a burden."

"Max—," I started, but got cut off by the butcher calling out her number. Without a word, she walked up to the front and starting placing her order.

I looked down at Matt, who was still chewing on one of his toys. He stopped biting it when he saw me looking, and with his large brown eyes, he gazed up at me. Bashfully, he smiled before looking down and continuing to chew on his toy.

"He is so well behaved," said a voice for an elderly woman next to me.

I looked at her, and nodded. "He is."

"Not like that one, over there," she said, leaning closer to me and jabbing her thumb in the direction of a whiny toddler clinging to her mother's leg.

"You're lucky you have such an easy going son. My children were terrors."

"Oh, he's not—,"

"I'm back," Max announced unnecessarily, dropping the meat into our cart.

"Oh, I was just complimenting your husband on how good your son was being," the woman said, smiling at Max.

"My who?" Max asked, her eyes bulging.

"I noticed the two of you when I grabbed my number. You seem like such a happy couple. I can tell by your body language," the woman complimented.

I gripped the edge of the cart, looking down at Matt. "What?" Max exclaimed.

"Oh yes I can tell these things. I've certainly had my fair share of husbands," she said laughing. Max stared at the woman.

"Oh, my number was just called," she announced. "Well, it was nice talking with you. And good luck to the both of you."

The woman could've not moved any slower as she pushed her cart in the direction of the counter, leaving both me and Max completely speechless. Not knowing where to look, I focused back on Matt who was still nibbling on his toy as if nothing had happened.

"Well, that was… interesting," Max said carefully, looking everywhere except at me.

"Yeah," I said sighing.

We stood there in the most uncomfortable silence for a few moments, before Nudge and Nora came walking up to us.

"All right, we finished. And it only took us double the time to find you than to finish the list," Nudge said, then did a double take.

"What happened to you?" she asked, and Max just stared at her.

"Nothing," she answered, before grabbing the edge of the cart, and tugging it away from me. "I'm ready to check out if you are."

Max walked away, before Nudge could even respond. She turned on me.

"What did you do?"

I shook my head, and started to follow Max. "I don't know."

* * *

><p><strong>[Oh my god, I am so sorry this is so short. Unbelievably short. I think it's the shortest I've written so far. I was thinking about cutting this chapter actually, because it's so short and I'm slightly embarrased to post it but it's important for later on (or at least that's the excuse I'm telling myself).<strong>

**Anyway. That's the last of my prewritten chapters. tears I have about 5 or so chapters started but none of them are done. I'm trying to not spend over a week without posting, so hopefully I'll be writing. :) ]**


	8. Chapter 8

**[So this hasn't been updated in a year? What? What is this? My watch stopped working and I had absolutely no idea.**

**Ok no, actually, finals got the best of me, and by the time finals were over, I lost all motivation to work on this story.**

**But I came up with a new idea for a story (that is actually BRILLIANT and I cannot wait for you to read it!) and I made a promise to myself that before I would post that one, I would at least finish writing this one.**

**I know that realistically, if you're reading this chapter because you've gotten an update notification, you've probably don't remember anything at all that's going on right now, so I'm going to give you all a quick recap.**

**Fang has just moved in with Max and Nudge after getting a job in New York City has a journalist for a pretty well-known newspaper. Recently, Nudge has just gotten engaged (chapter 6), Fang was speaking with Iggy about his feelings(?) towards Max (chapter 6), and Fang has expressed protectiveness over Nudge, as well as a little bit of mix-emotions and some slight protectiveness over Max's children (chapter 6 and 7). The flashbacks have shown Max and Fang being in a relationship as teenagers for about a year, as well as Iggy and Ella just beginning to date. I hope this clears a few things up!]**

**Chapter Eight:**

"You're up early," Max announced while she walked into the kitchen.

"Yeah," I said, pouring myself a cup of hot water into my travel mug. "Getting a jump start on the day."

"Mmm," she sympathized. "Early for you?"

"Not really," I answered, dropping a tea bag into the cup.

"Oh," she said, walking over to the counter. She stared at me for a moment. "Tea?" she asked, and I shrugged.

"I wouldn't have pegged you as a tea person," Max explained.

"I don't like coffee, and tea is caffeinated."

"Oh, gotcha," she said. "I'm going to make an omelet. Would you like one?"

I shook my head. "No thanks.:

She put her hand on her hip. "I'm a better cook now you know," Max added, defensively, as she always did whenever I turned down her cooking. I looked at her sideways as I always did whenever she made that statement, bouncing the tea bag in my water.

"I am," she insisted. "I'll make you one."

I sighed. "All right."

Max smiled at me, and I got a funny feeling in my throat. Max pushed herself away from the counter, and I moved to the table and opened up my notebook to review my notes.

We stayed in the kitchen awkwardly, Max cooking and me pretending to be distracted by my work.

"What do you want in it?" she asked.

"Whatever you have," I answered.

"Wow, you're _still_ easy to please," she said, and I could hear the smile in her voice. "How long will this last?"

"As long as you want it to."

She turned her head around to glare at me. "It's getting pretty old."

I looked back down at my notes. "On the contrary, I enjoy not thinking for myself."

Max laughed on her way to fridge. I looked up at her from the corner of my eye. I eyed Max's jeans, which had to be new because they were the only ones that weren't faded or worn. I didn't deny that she looked good in her clothes; better than I had seen in her in a few weeks. Her shirt wasn't wrinkled or stained, and it was certainly flattering.

Max caught me looking at her while she backed out of the refrigerator. "What?" she asked.

"I like your shirt," I said honestly.

Max looked down bashfully. "Thanks."

I looked down at my notebook. "Is it new?' I asked casually.

"Yeah," she said. "There was like, an end of the year sale or something, so I got a few new things."

"Good," I said, and she eyed me over her shoulder.

"What was wrong with my old clothes?"

"Nothing," I said quickly. "You should treat yourself once in a while. Everything you buy is for the kids."

"I enjoy buying things for them," she said.

"You can buy things for yourself, too," I argued.

"I don't need anything," she retaliated.

"Max, your clothes are so old they have holes in them."

"Why do you even care?" she quipped.

I paused, and looked up at her. Max sighed before I could answer.

"Look. I would rather spend the little money I actually have on my kids than buy frivolous things for myself," she explained calmly.

"I understand," I said slowly.

"You better."

"The shirt does look good," I said after a moment.

Max bent down to get a plate from the cabinet. "Thanks," she said flatly.

"You're welcome," I responded, watching her go back to the stove. She flipped the omelet perfectly onto the plate before bringing it over to the table. She placed the egg in front of me, the plate sliding out of her hand as she avoided my gaze.

Back at the stove, flipping over the next omelet onto the other plate, she asked, "It doesn't look too weird does it?"

"What?"

Max paused. "I mean, it doesn't look too odd on me? I'm not used to wearing nice clothing."

"It looks fine, Max," I said as she sat down next to me.

"Ok," she said.

"I mean, it is a little unsettling to see you wearing a clean shirt," I said.

Max glared at me.

"But throw in a shirt that actually has buttons and isn't just a tee-shirt and I'm sure you're bound to blow everyone's mind," I added.

Max smacked my arm just as I was taking a bite. I paused to look at her.

"Knock it off," she said with a chuckle.

I smirked before I bit into the omelet. I swallowed before stating, "This is really good."

"You sound surprised," Max said, triumphantly.

"I am."

Max got ready to hit me again, but I held up my fork. "Watch it."

She looked at me, but then looked back down at her plate, smiling.

"So," I said, after the longest pause of my life. "Any plans for the day?"

"Um, besides work? Not really."

"What do you do with them?"

"With who?" Max asked.

"The kids you watch," I clarified.

"Um," Max started. "Usually different things. Two of them are in school, so I'm just with the baby all day and he's pretty good. The other two boys are more rambunctious, so I usually take them outside to blow off some energy."

I nodded. "Sounds fun."

"It really is. I like them a lot. The boys are all good kids. And their parents are the best people to work for. They treat me like family, which is nice."

"That's good."

"Yeah," Max finished, and we sat quietly for the rest of the meal with only the clicking of our forks to spare us the silence.

"Hey, you done?" Max asked, pushing her chair away from the table. "I'll grab your plate."

"Yeah, thanks," I said, standing up. "Need help cleaning up?"

"Nah, I'm just gonna load the dishwasher and then bounce. What about you?"

"Yeah, I'm leaving now too."

"Oh cool," Max said. "Are you walking?"

"No I take the subway."

"Which train?"

"The 5."

"Oh me too, before I transfer," Max said. "I'll come with you."

Casually, I pulled my bag up on my shoulder. "Ok."

Max smiled. "Great. Let me get my shoes on."

I watched her walk out of the room and swallowed back my smile. I didn't want to jinx anything by saying I could feel our relationship growing better by the day, but I believed that Max was starting to feel more comfortable around me.

I just had to work on feeling differently around her.

"You ready?" Max said, grabbing her jean jacket from the rack.

"Yeah," I answered.

"All right, let's go," she said, and I followed her out as if hardly anything had changed.

* * *

><p>Pushing my hand into my pockets, I started to fish my keys when I reached the door, but twisting the doorknob, I found it already unlocked. Max had gotten me a copy of the key to the apartment earlier in the week so I could get in when everyone else was at work, after I had been locked out quite a few times.<p>

Nudge greeted me right by the doorway, where she was leaning her palm against the wall while stuffing her feet into her pair of flats.

"Hey Fang," she acknowledged me without even turning around. "How was work?"

"Okay," I said, rearranging my laptop bag on my shoulder.

"I'm going to pick up the kids. Do you want to come?"

I started to decline, but Nudge spun around to face me, her eyes wide and hopeful, and I changed my mind.

"Sure," I replied.

"Really?" she asked.

I nodded and walked past her to drop my bag by the couch.

"Ok, awesome! Let me grab the stroller."

A few minutes later we were out on the street, Nudge pushing the empty stroller and me walking a few steps behind her.

"It's just a few blocks away," Nudge reassured when we reached the corner of the street the apartment building is on. "It's not that bad of a walk."

When the crosswalk light signaled green, we made our way into the pedestrian traffic, and Nudge spoke up again. "Did you eat lunch yet?" she asked. "There's a small deli across the street from their daycare where I usually stop to get a sandwich before I pick them up. I was going to stop today if you want to."

"Sounds good," I responded, and she smiled at me. I was enjoying how easy it was to please her, not only because I was making her happy, but also because it felt good to be doing something right for once.

A few blocks later we wound up in front of a tiny deli with a few short steps leading to the door. From the outside it looked dark and grim, and Nudge folded up the stroller and dragged it inside behind her.

Nudge expertly maneuvered her way through the aisles, me trailing slowly behind, standing beside her when she got to the counter. She waved at the man in the back of the store, and he waved back at her, cradling the phone to his shoulder.

"Hold on a sec, I have a customer," he spoke, and started to walk over to Nudge. "The usual?"

Nudge smiled. "Yes please. Make that two."

The man nodded, and went back to his previous conversation, turning his back away from his.

"What did you order?" I asked.

"A sample of everything," Nudge said vaguely, leaning down to peer inside the glass cooler. "It's delicious, trust me."

I didn't respond, but shoved my hands in my pockets while Nudge checked her cell phone. For the week I have been living with them, it still felt weird to be following their daily schedule. I felt like a complete outsider among them, like a stranger who was just occupying their couch. Nudge and Max made me feel more than welcome to their home, however it was just weird to see them go through their daily lives in ways that I wasn't used to.

I certainly wasn't used to any sense of normalcy, with moving around almost every week since I was eighteen, so to see Max and Nudge do so, to actually have and follow a routine, was strange and out of character. I wasn't used to living like this.

However, it was beginning to grow on me. I like knowing what was to be expected when I got home from work or when I woke up in the morning. I liked knowing that I was going to be sleeping in the same spot in the next few days. I enjoyed not having to flip a coin to decide where to order take out from. I even enjoyed the fact that I had actual adult interaction with people besides my editor. I liked having conversations in person and answering the simple "how was your day?"

It was nice meeting certain expectations.

Nudge shoved her phone back into her pocket, and elbowed me. "You all right?"

I nodded, and she raised one eyebrow.

"You seem a little… lost?" she said.

"I was just thinking."

"Hopefully it was something good," she said with a smile, and I nodded.

"Here ya go, Nudge," said the man from before, handing her a brown bag.

"Thanks," she replied, exchanging the bag for a crumpled bill she had taken from her pocket.

"How much was it?" I asked, reaching for my wallet.

Nudge waved me off. "Don't worry about it. My treat."

The man handed her back her change. "See ya tomorrow," he said with a nod, before returning back to his phone call.

"You too!" Nudge called, as she began to walk out of the store.

Once we were outside, Nudge gave me the bag to carry as she unfolded the stroller again, in order to push it.

"The daycare is at the end of the block," she said, pointing ahead. "They'll be ready when we get there. Hopefully."

They were ready when we arrived at the daycare where Max enrolled them, waiting for us by the door with one of the adult workers, both sporting their light jackets. Nora smiled at me when we walked in.

"Hey guys!" Nudge said, scooping up Matt into her arms. "Did you have fun today?" Nudge said, bending down to be at Nora's level.

"Yeah we did! I built a house," Nora explained.

"A whole house? That must've been huge!" Nudge exclaimed, buckling Matt into his stroller.

Nora nodded enthusiastically, and Nudge smiled back. She turned around, waving good bye to the daycare workers, and I followed them outside to the sidewalk.

"Hey Nora, why don't you take Fang's hand, ok?" Nudge said, looking back over her shoulder.

Nora looked up at me before carefully reaching over and wrapping her fingers around my first few fingers, not fitting all the way across my hand. I smiled down at her slowly, and her gripped tightened.

When we crossed the street, Nudge looked back at us over her shoulder for a brief moment and smirked.

* * *

><p>"<em>You ready?" I asked, leaning my hand against Max's bedroom door as I watched her tie her shoes.<em>

_Max smiled up at me, her hair falling over her shoulders. Without saying anything, she looked back down and tightened her laces while I leaned against the doorframe, stuffing my hands into my pockets._

"_Ok," she said, standing up to face me. "Do I need to bring anything?"_

_I shook my head, and she nodded in response._

"_We're just going to the beach right?" Max clarified, and I nodded._

"_You all right?" she said, giving me a sideways glance and a smile. I nodded for a second time, while she walked past me, nudging my side with her elbow. I followed her out in the hallway and down the stairs, where Iggy was sitting on the living room couch listening to the TV._

"_Where is everyone?" Max asked him, her hands on her hips. Iggy shrugged._

"_I don't know."_

"_Ok, well, we're leaving," Max said, moving towards the door. _

_Iggy smiled slyly. "Ok," he replied, sitting up straighter. "Have fun you two."_

_Max sighed, rolling her eyes in my direction. "Come on," she said, swiftly walking past me, while Iggy chuckled behind us._

"_Happy anniversary!" he sang, as Max opened the front door. "Don't miss your curfew!"_

_I slowly closed the front door behind me, and Max turned to me, sticking a finger in my chest._

"_Since this was your stupid idea to celebrate our first anniversary, you get to be the one to tell him that it's not a big deal," she said, narrowing her eyes at me._

"_We're just going to the beach," I said. "It's not a big deal."_

_She leveled her gaze at me and sighed, before turning back around and leading the way in the direction of the beach. I followed her for a few steps before catching up to walk by her side. Max had stuffed her hands in her pockets on her jean shorts, and was looking up at the sky._

"_Hopefully it doesn't rain," she muttered, and I followed her gaze up to the gray sky that seemed to be swallowing shades of blue._

"_If it does we'll just head back," I replied, and she frowned._

"_And ruin this wonderful evening?"_

_I turned my head to look at her. "Was there a slight hint or sarcasm or am I imagining things?"_

_Max prolonged her sighed, and made a dramatic show of pulling her hand out of her pocket and sliding her fingers into the spaces between mine where hers fit perfectly. Max was looking straight ahead so I thought she had missed the slight upward curve of one side of my mouth. However, after a second glance in her direction, I saw her biting back a smile and a slight hint of pink on her cheeks that made me think otherwise._

_We walked the rest of the way to the beach in silence, much to my dismay. My mind had turned into an endless record titled "Things I Wish I Had the Courage to Say Right Now." I thought of how amazing it was that Max has been my best friend for my entire life, yet there were still things I was afraid to say to her, even now when our feelings for each other were both known._

_When we reached the beach, Max dropped my hand and started walking faster, making a beeline for the shore. I hung back, watching as the breeze pushed her hair back in the familiar way it did when we were flying. Max flung her flip flops off just before she reached the water, and started to wade in. She stopped when the waves splashed just below her knees, and she pushed her shoulders back and rested her hands on her hips._

_Carefully, I made my way over to way she was standing, placing my hands on her elbows as I stood behind her. Max leaned back against me and I casually looked down to see her eyes closed._

"_It's so nice out," she mumbled. "It's like, the perfect weather. The breeze cancels out the humidity."_

_She turned her head to see me giving her a sideways look, and she frowned._

"_What?" Max asked, turning around so the front of her body folded into mine. _

_I shook my head. "Nothing."_

_She smiled, placing her hands onto of mine where they rested on her arms. She pulled my wrists behind her, enclosing the small of her back in her arms. My hands brushed up against the feathers peeking out through the giant slits she cut in her tank top, and Max ran her hands up the length of my arms._

"_Your shorts are already soaked," she said, motioning downward, to where the ocean had stained the hem around my knees._

"_Yeah," I said, keeping my eyes on her._

_Max smiled. "Maybe you should take them off."_

_I blinked once and she laughed before moving one of her hands to the back of my neck. I leaned down so our faces were less than inches apart, and pressed my lips to hers. I could feel the rise of her smile as the corners rose as she glided her other hand to my back. I wrapped my arms around her tighter, bringing her closer to me. The waves beat towards us as they hit Max first, insisting that she move closer to me as they pushed against her calves._

_Max pulled away first, but only before smiling. She squinted up at me, the wind whipping her hair around her head._

"_Do you wanna fly around for a bit?" she asked, and I nodded._

"_Of course."_

_Later, long after the sun had disappeared and our eyes had adjusted to the darkness, Max and I were lying on the beach facing the sky. Her hand was wrapped around one of my arms, and I was listening to the rhythm of her breathing as it offset the waves lapping the shore. _

"_I literally have sand everywhere," she said and I turned to my head to look at her. Max's chin was against her chest, and her other hand was lifting her soaking shirt away from her body and she glanced down. "I think I even have sand in my bra."_

_I raised my eyebrow at her and when she glanced over at me she laughed before rolling over onto her side._

"_Don't give me that look," she said. "That was your fault."_

_I gave her a brief smile as she propped her head up with one of her hands. _

"_Do you want to go back?" I asked her._

_Max frowned. "No. Do you?"_

_I shook my head, and she smiled._

"_Good. Let's stay here for a little while."_

_I smiled again, before moving the arm that was between us behind her shoulders and resting it against the back of her head and she leaned down to rest her forehead against my own shoulders._

_It was the middle of the night, we were on the beach of the diminutive island we had inhibited a few years before, and no one could get to us. There were no other signs of anyone around us, leaving the impression that Max and I were the only two people on the planet at that one given moment._

_And that was just the way I wanted it to be._

* * *

><p><strong>[YAY! A CHAPTER!<strong>

**This is kind of short, and I hope it was worth the wait (in my opinion, the next chapter is SO MUCH BETTER but this one was already 3/4 of the way done so I was like, "eh I'll just finish it." The next chapter (9) is already written and I have one more chapter (11) that's already completed as well!**

**I've set a schedule for myself, which is that every Wednesday (my time) a new chapter will be up. So expect chapter 9 to be posted on April 17th! And hold me against my word.]**


	9. Chapter 9

**[On time as promised! I like this chapter, so I hope you do as well!]**

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><p><strong>Chapter 9:<strong>

From my spot at the kitchen table, out of the corner of my eyes I saw Max tiptoe out of the kids' bedroom, where she closed the door silently behind her after putting them to bed. She smiled at me and I nodded back at her, then returned to my laptop screen just as Max disappeared from my line of vision.

I had spent the whole day working on this article, researching it and then beginning to write it. One of the things about this new job that influenced the love-hate relationship I had with it was the fact that all of the work was extremely fast paced. At all of my other jobs I was writing one, maybe two articles a week. Here I was writing an article every other day or so.

I enjoyed the quick tempo and constant change of topics; however it was much more work than I was used to. I probably spent about ten hours a day in front of my laptop. My eyes were beginning to cross.

"So what did you need to talk about?" I heard Max ask Nudge, from their spots in the living room. I had tried to not to eavesdrop, but there was only a wall separating us.

"Well, Jack and I were talking about something and I just wanted to run it by you," Nudge explained, her voice steady and quiet.

"Shoot."

"Jack asked me to move in with him."

"Nudge, that's great," Max answered, and I blinked, trying to focus back on my work, but I was too distracted by their conversation.

"Well, that means I would have to move out," Nudge clarified further.

"Yes, I understand what that entails," Max said with a laugh. "What do you think?"

"I want to," Nudge said excitedly, "but I want to make sure that you're all right by yourself."

"Nudge, I'll be fine!" Max exclaimed. "Don't worry about me."

"Are you sure?" Nudge asked warily. "I'd still be more than willing to help out with the kids and everything."

"Nudge, of course I'm sure. You're getting married; of course you'll have to move in with Jack at some point. And it's not like I've never lived on my own before," Max said.

"You've never lived on your own before," Nudge said flatly, and Max scoffed.

"Excuse me, who's been taking care of you since she was twelve?" Max asked, and after a moment's pause added, "Yeah, I thought so."

They were both quiet for a moment, when Nudge laughed.

"Thanks Max. It'll be weird living without you though."

I heard Max laugh in response. "Yeah, it'll certainly be quieter around here."

"Hey, I just lighten up your entire life."

Max laughed quickly once more before they were quiet again, until Nudge spoke up, her voice softer this time, though I could still hear her.

"You'll be ok with the rent?"

I lifted my eyes of the computer screen to stare at the wall in front of me, suddenly feeling and intense wash of guilt wash through me. I had been here for about two weeks now, and was probably going to be here for at least two more, and helping out with the rent hadn't even crossed my mind. I didn't know how much they were paying, but I knew that I definitely had more than enough money to pitch in.

"Nudge, I'll figure something out. Money's not an issue," Max assured her, but Nudge stayed quiet.

Quickly, I pulled up my bank account information online. Even without my paycheck for my current job, I would still be able to help Max with rent for this month and be able to afford a new apartment for sure.

"Well, I could always loan you the money if you need it. You know, when you just start out," Nudge said, just as quietly as before.

"Nudge, no way, you're in school. I'll be fine, trust me. If worst comes to worst, I'll just have to find a cheaper day care and cut back on eating out. But that's it, I'll be fine," Max said, her voice at normal level.

"Well you could—" Nudge started, but Max cut her off.

"_No_. We already discussed that and it's a no," Max said sternly.

"I was just saying, Max. It would help," Nudge whispered this time.

"I don't need his help."

I gritted my teeth. Part of me was telling me not to eavesdrop on their obviously private conversation, and the other part of me was telling me to listen because if Nudge was worried about Max's financial status then I should be too.

"It would be beneficial on both ends," Nudge explained.

"_No,_" Max repeated. "I'm not doing that."

Nudge sighed. "You know he would say yes."

"Yes I know, and that's why it's not happening."

They were both quiet for a moment, before Nudge sighed again.

"Fine, be stubborn. I'm going to finish writing my paper and then get ready for bed. Good night Max," Nudge said, and I heard some shuffling. When she walked past the doorway to the kitchen she waved at me, and I held up my hand towards her.

After a moment, Max made her way into the kitchen.

"What are you working on?" she asked me. I quickly clicked away from my account information and onto the document I was working on earlier. Max passed behind me, moving towards the counter, where she turned on the burner to the stove.

"My new assignment, on urban farming."

From the corner of my eye, I saw Max fill up the kettle with water and place it back onto the stove. She reached up to the cabinet above her head, the hem of her shirt rising above her midriff, as she placed a mug on the counter, and turned back to face me.

"What's that?" she asked, shoving her hands into her pockets.

"I don't really know," I answered honestly. "I have to interview some people. I guess it's like, indoor harvesting, or how some buildings have rooftop gardens and such."

"Did you get assigned that?"

"Sort of," I explained, still not looking at her. "There's a board of a variety of pitches and we get to choose from them."

Max was quiet for a few minutes, and I took the time to type out nonsense in order to make myself seem busy and distracted. My mind was whirling from Max and Nudge's conversation, and I was trying to find a casual way to bring it up with Max.

Unfortunately, when the hot water was done, Max pulled back a chair to the table and slowly lowered herself down, shaking out a pouch of hot chocolate to get all the powder to the bottom. I eyed her, and she looked at me.

"Do you mind if I sit here?" she asked, pausing. "Am I distracting you?"

I shook my head. "It's fine."

Max looked down and nodded. I listened as she tore the package open, and continued to swirl the powder into the mug, the spoon clicking delicately against the ceramic. I took a deep breath in, and saved my work, knowing that I wouldn't be getting any further tonight.

Max sighed, and I looked up at her. Her eyes were closed and her head was hung facing the table top, her shoulders slouched over. When she inhaled again, she sat up straighter and met my gaze.

"Stuck?" she asked, motioning to my laptop and how my fingers hovered against the keyboard, not typing anything. I nodded in agreement, and she nodded in sympathy.

"How's your new job?" she asked, bringing the mug to graze her lips with both of her palms wrapped around it. "Do you like it?"

I nodded again. "I do. It's different. A lot of work, but I like being busy."

"Good," she said, taking a sip. She made a face by wrinkling her nose, and brought the cup down to the table. "Ugh. I wish I had used milk, but there's only a little bit left."

"I can pick some up tomorrow," I said, and Max furrowed her eyebrows.

"No, I'll do it."

"I get out of work earlier than you do, I can just pick some up on the way back here," I reassured her.

"Well, I have to go grocery shopping anyway," she added.

"I can go," I said, determined.

She gave me a hard look. "Fang, it's fine. I always go grocery shopping."

"Max. Just give me a list and I'll pick some things up," I said.

"No."

"Why not?"

"I don't want you paying for my kids."

I paused, a small frown pulling at the corners of my lips. "What?"

Max looked down into her mug, and I got the feeling she didn't mean to say that. I tried to soften my voice.

"You've been paying for me since I got here."

"It's not about the money," she said, stubbornly.

"Fine," I said, trying out a different tactic. "I'll go get groceries on the way home so you can spend more time with the kids."

Max's eyes flashed. "They're my kids."

"I know," I said slowly, glancing at her sideways.

"Stop calling them '_the_ kids'. They're mine."

I pressed my lips together, and swallowed hard. I didn't know how much I had been saying that, so I didn't even know how Max could've noticed. But she had, and it had obviously upset her.

"I can still get groceries," I said, less determined than the first time. Max's eyes softened as she looked down.

"Ok," she said finally, but she didn't seem too happy about it. I looked back to the computer screen and repositioned my hands above the keyboard but I couldn't bring myself to form any coherent sentences.

A cough from the doorway made me look up unexpectedly, and from the corner of my eye I saw Max do the same. I turned to see Nudge in the entrance to the kitchen, dressed in a pair of jeans and a jacket, definitely not her normal sleepwear.

"So if you two are done here," she started, making me look down for a second, "I just wanted to let you know that I'm going out."

"Where are you going?" Max asked. "I thought you had class early tomorrow."

Nudge blushed and fidgeted with her hands. "Well, Jack just texted me and said that his roommate wasn't coming home tonight so…"

I looked back at my computer screen, not wanting to take part in this conversation at all. I saw the corners of Max's mouth flicker into a small smile.

"I understand. You want me to drop off the kids at daycare tomorrow?"

"That would be great if you can. Otherwise, text me and let me know if you're short on time, I can swing by," Nudge said.

"Ok sounds good. Have fun. Be careful on the way over there."

"Max, it's ten o' clock at night. Hardly dangerous," she said with a laugh. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye," Max said as Nudge left the room, her footsteps following her to the doorway.

As soon as the door clicked shut, Max smirked at me. "I'm surprised you didn't say anything," she said, sarcastically. I narrowed my eyes at her.

"It's not my place," I explained. "And besides. She's twenty-two years old. She can take care of herself."

Max's eyes widened slightly and she tried to hide her smile. "Oh?" she said, taking another sip of her hot chocolate.

I didn't respond, but instead turned back to the computer screen.

"So," Max said, putting down her mug onto the table with a soft clang. "How much of our conversation did you hear?"

I froze and looked at her. Max didn't look mad, but her expression was flat. When I didn't respond right away she raised her eyebrows at me.

"I know you heard us because we weren't talking that quietly, and I saw your close your bank account window when I walked in the room," she said sternly. "So don't lie."

I sighed quietly, my shoulders falling, and Max straightened with a smug look on her face.

"I can pitch in for rent until I find an apartment," I said.

"Have you been looking?" she asked me.

I shrugged. "A little bit. Mostly online. I want my own apartment but everything is asking for a roommate."

She nodded. "Yeah, it took Nudge and I about two months to find a decent place."

I swallowed. I really didn't want to stay here for two whole months; I thought it was just going to be a temporary thing for a few weeks.

"Well, I can still pitch in for rent," I said, and Max sighed.

"As much as I would hate to admit it, I would really appreciate that," she said, looking down into her mug.

"I can pay as much as Nudge has been paying," I said, and she nodded.

"That sounds great," she exhaled, still looking down.

"And if you need anything," I said. "Please let me know if I can do anything ok?"

Max looked up at me from underneath her eyelashes. She glared at me.

"I mean it."

"Yeah, ok," she said, without feeling.

* * *

><p><em>Rubbing my fist in a circle on the fogged up mirror, I looked back at my reflection. Just the other day Max had mentioned how I was beginning to look more mature, how my features were becoming harsher, but I hadn't really noticed or remembered until right now. It seemed like within the long span of the boiling hot shower I had remember everything she had said to me within the past few weeks, both good and bad.<em>

_I made sure my towel was knotted around my waist before leaving the bathroom and walking down the hallway to my bedroom to change. _

"_God, took you long enough," Nudge called from the room she shared with Angel. "I've needed to go to the bathroom for like, a half hour."_

_I didn't respond, but instead walked past her, continuing down the hallway to the last room that I had claimed to myself. To my surprise, Max was sitting on my bed, playing with her fingers._

_She looked up at me when I came in, her face long and tired, and then she blinked._

"_Oh," she said softly. "I can leave so you can change."_

_I shrugged. Max didn't move so instead I opened my dresser drawer, pulling out clothes. From the corner of my eye, I saw Max's eyes drop back down to her lap, while I changed quietly, my back turned towards her, drying off my hair with the towel._

_I stood in front of her finally, running a hand through my hair, unknotting it with my fingers. Max looked up at me._

"_You need a haircut."_

_I nodded in agreement, and she looked back down. I waited for her to speak up first, knowing that she knew perfectly well that I wasn't going to say anything._

"_Fang," she stated matter of factly. "You think after almost two years of dating we'd be getting better at the whole fighting thing."_

_She looked up at me with a slight smile that automatically created a flush to make its way through me, knowing it wasn't just the aftermath from the warm shower._

_She reached out an arm to me, and I quickly sat down next to her on the bed. She put her arm behind me, leaning back on her palm, so her side was leaning against mine. She sighed, slowly, titling her head towards the ceiling._

_We sat in silence for a few moments, neither a particular comfortable or uncomfortable one, and as always, Max looked up at me, breaking our silence._

"_Do you even remember what started it?"_

_I shook my head. Our argument at this point was fragmented into all of the awful things Max and I had both said out loud, but I couldn't clearly remember the beginning of our conversation._

_She laughed. "Neither do I. That's really pathetic, don't you think?"_

"_Yeah," I said flatly, and she looked at me._

_Max cleared her throat. "Uh," she started, but I interrupted, placing a hand on her knee._

_I wasn't angry with her, but I was more or less upset with myself. I saw the look on her face, the hurt hiding behind her eyes, knowing that my words were replaying in her head just as hers were replaying in mine. There was no need for an apology. And she knew that._

_Max kissed my check carefully, placing her hand on the back of my neck. When she pulled away, she leaned back, smiling._

"_We're ok, right?"_

_I turned to her, feeling the pressure of her arm still on my neck, and smiled slightly as well. "Always."_

_Her smile grew and she started to rub her thumb against my neck, and I knew where we were eventually heading._

"_I didn't mean what I said," she said slowly._

"_Which part?" I said, and she narrowed her eyes at._

"_What is that supposed to mean?"_

"_You said a lot of things," I pointed out, raising one side of my mouth into a small smile. _

_She rolled her eyes at me. "Oh please. It couldn't have been any worse than what you said."_

"_And what did I say exactly?"_

"_You've forgotten already?" she scolded at me. "You called me overprotective of the younger kids."_

_I bit my lip, holding back my 'well, you are,' but Max noticed and glared at me._

"_Don't even say anything," she warned with a slight laugh. "This conversation is over."_

"_All right," I said sarcastically._

_She rolled her eyes. "Ok, so maybe I'm just a little worried about them going to school. That doesn't mean I'm overprotective."_

_I looked at her. "I thought this conversation was over."_

_She narrowed her eyes._

"_Ok, so," I backtracked, mimicking her, "just because I like to spend time with you doesn't make me clingy."_

"_Oh come on, I didn't mean that."_

_I gave her a sideways look, and she nudged me with her elbow. "I was at the point where I was contemplating blaming you for not paying attention to our milk supply and realizing that it went sour this morning when I drank it."_

"_Is that what started you on this bad mood?" I asked. "Here I was thinking that I had down something wrong when in reality your morning was just awful because you drank expired milk."_

_She rolled her eyes at me. "Oh come on," she repeated. "It wasn't that bad."_

_I stared at her, and she moved her hand from my neck to my back, bringing me closer to her._

"_Ok maybe it was a little bad," she admitted, her cheeks turning pink._

"_Just a little," I said sarcastically, and she rolled her eyes. She moved her other hand to my elbow, and promptly dragged my arm to her waist._

"_Shut up," she said, leaning closer to me. "You know we fight like this all the time."_

"_Yeah but not once did you call me clingy," I said. "And here I thought I was just being nice to you."_

_She stopped moving and I looked at her expectantly. Her face was deadpan as she blinked, her hand slowly moving back up to my neck._

"_Are you done talking?" she asked._

_I sighed, and Max narrowed her eyes at me. _

"_I guess so," I responded._

"_Good."_

_With that, she closed her eyes and leaned into me, her other hand moving off my elbow and wrapping around to my back. I brought my other hand to her shoulder while pulling the side of her waist closer to me, titling my head in her direction._

_She pulled away first and I opened my eyes to see her moving down to my neck, her hand moving off my neck and down to the hem of my shirt._

"_You really didn't have to put your clothes on," she said softly, looking up at me from under her eyelashes._

_I chuckled under my breath. "You don't waste any time."_

_She smirked at me, before pressing her lips against mine again, tangling one hand through my hair while the other snaked around my back, bringing herself closer to me. She situated herself so she was leaning upward, towards my head, all the while pushing me backwards._

_Without breaking our embrace, Max gently nudged me until my head hit the wall, in which case she pulled back and opened her eyes._

"_Move," she breathed, and I lifted myself up, moving so I was laying the long way, my legs resting against my bed. Max moved so she was leaning over me again, connecting our lips once more._

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><p><strong>[Heh heh heh. Next chapter<strong> **posted on April 24th. :] I'm actually going to go work on it right now. Let me know what you think of this one!]**


	10. Chapter 10

**[This chapter was probably one of the most difficult ones I've had to write for this story so I hope it doesn't come across that way. It's also a bit short.]**

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><p><strong>Chapter Ten:<strong>

"_Fang, wait up," Max called after me from down the hallway, and I gritted my teeth before halting just before the door to my room._

"_I don't see what your problem is," she said as she got closer to me._

_I took another step forward, placing my hand on the doorknob. Max placed her hand on my other arm, pulling it towards her._

"_Don't run away from me."_

"_Can we not do this here?" I said, narrowing my eyes at her._

_She sighed, pushing past me to open the door to my room and walking in without waiting for me._

"_Oh yeah," Iggy yelled from his bedroom down the hallway. "Why don't you just go and yell at each other behind a door. It's not like we can't hear you anyway."_

_I inhaled and Max rolled her eyes from inside my room. I took a step forward, closing the door behind me, and Max crossed her arms._

"_I don't see why you're mad at me," she stated plainly._

"_You went behind my back," I said, and she rolled her eyes again._

"_No I didn't," she said. "I spoke with Angel right in front of you."_

"_Yeah, after I had already told her one thing. You just changed you mind without talking to me."_

"_Do I need to talk to you about it?" she said, placing her hands on her hips._

"_Max, all I did was tell her she could go to her friend's birthday party."_

"_Yeah, and I don't think that was a good idea."_

_I shook my head at her. "And why not?"_

"_Because we don't know these people! And they don't know anything about us and I would like to keep it this way."_

"_Max, she can read minds. I think she would know if something was wrong."_

_Max huffed and swung her arm out to her side._

"_Fang she's nine years old."_

"_Exactly. She's nine years old and she should live a normal life."_

_Max raised an eyebrow. "Are you saying that I'm not giving her a normal life?"_

_I sighed. "That's not what I meant."_

_She tried to interrupt me, but I held up my hand, and continued, raising my voice._

"_And I'm not mad about you telling Angel she couldn't go, I'm mad that you didn't talk to me about this, especially after I had already told her one thing."_

"_Why is that a big deal?"_

"_Because I thought we were a team, Max, You went behind my back."_

_Max rolled her eyes, and I tried not to roll mine in response._

"_Well you didn't tell me that you had already told Angel she could go," she said._

"_I didn't think it was a big deal."_

"_And I didn't think it was a big deal to say that she couldn't."_

"_You should've told me first."_

"_Yeah, well I didn't because I don't need to."_

"_Excuse me?" I said, crossing my arms._

"_Why do I need to talk to you before I make a decision? Does Iggy get a say in if Angel goes to her friend's house? Should I ask Gazzy and Nudge for their opinion?"_

"_Max, are you forgetting the fact that we're in a relationship? Because sometimes it doesn't even seem like we are."_

"_Fang, I'm the one in charge so I get the last word."_

_I stared at her, before pinching the bridge of my nose. I tried to calm down, but the fact that Max didn't think my opinion mattered to her was making it difficult for me to stay in control._

_I took my hand away from my face, and started to turn around._

"_Forget it," I said, making my way towards the door._

"_Where are you going?" Max said, following me, to the doorway but not continuing down the hallway._

"_Out," I said, already heading down the staircase._

_Gazzy and Angel were sitting on the couch when I got down there, both of them looking up at me as I walked into the room. I wasn't going to pretend everything was fine because I knew that they had heard us._

_A door slammed upstairs just as I reached the front door._

"_I'll be back later," I told the two of them, before closing the door behind me._

* * *

><p>I don't think I will ever understand how Max and Nudge seem so comfortable riding the subway.<p>

It constantly smelled like a mixture of sewer and sweat. You couldn't speak to the person next to you without shouting, with the screaming of the trains hitting the rails and everyone else yelling in order to be heard. I couldn't even count how many times someone has practically run me over as they were running to catch their train.

It just wasn't appealing to me.

Also, I'm still not sure of how Max could manage to ride the subway twice a day without feeling as if she was about to jump out of her skin. I could barely take the fifteen minutes I spent riding the subway in the mornings, before it got too much for me. I usually walked back to the apartment after I was done working for the day.

Thankfully, this morning, Max and I didn't even have to wait long for our car to come. We stepped into a car that had the least amount of people so we wouldn't be crushed.

We moved into the middle of the car, Max putting her hand onto the railing above her hand, and me following suit.

"Can I ask you something?" Max said after a short moment. She was looking at me, her expression flat and somber.

"Sure."

Max looked out the window of the car at absolutely nothing, staring above the heads of the sitting passengers.

"Well, if your answer is no, can you promise not to ask what it is?" she asked, still staring out the window.

I paused, confused. "What?"

Max took a deep breath. "I'm going to ask you a question," she started slowly. "If you don't know what I'm talking about, I don't want you to ask what it's about."

"All right," I agreed, without a clue about what she was asking.

Max turned to me, her face serious and her tone emotionless. "Did Nudge tell you?"

I blinked once, not knowing what she was talking about.

I opened my mouth to say "no", but it was then when I looked at her face and her wall came down. Her previous expression was not just flat, but a cover up for something else hidden underneath. I saw the white flesh around her knuckles tighten on the bar above her head while her other hand grasped her arm.

I watched as she swallowed, her lips pressed together hard, her eyes cold and even and staring straight into mine.

Suddenly, the train jolted to a stop and we both moved with it. People started to leave the car and a new flood of people moved around us, ignoring the frozen space that seemed to be shrinking between our locked eyes, and I understood what she meant.

"Yes," I replied, breathlessly, just as the train starting moving again.

Max was staring straight ahead at me, but I could tell she wasn't looking. Her eyes were glazed over and her lips were pressed into a thin line. I stared at her, knowing I had been right by telling her the truth that I did know about what happened, but I could tell she was unhappy with that answer.

"When?" she asked, her eyes still unfocused.

I inhaled. "That weekend."

Max's eyes flashed as we turned a corner. The moving car made a clanging noise, and she glared at me, her mood changing.

"Are you freaking kidding me?" she said, placing her other hand on her hip. "Nudge told you _that weekend?_ After I specifically told her not to tell _you_, and she goes and blabs about it anyway."

I stayed silent, looking at her face while she glanced out the window.

"And I can't believe you knew this whole time and didn't say anything," she continued.

"Did you really want me to talk about it?"

"_No_."

I looked her in the eyes before she pointed her head towards the floor.

"Can we get off at the next stop?" she asked, still looking down. "I'm getting claustrophobic."

We were silent until we hit the street, the brisk air startling me as it hit my face. I zippered my jacket up to my chest, and Max shoved her hands into her pockets.

"Better?" I asked, and she glared at me out of the corner of her eyes.

"You have far to walk?" she asked, turning her head away from mine and staring straight ahead of her.

"Maybe twenty extra minutes."

She sighed and I took another look at her, trying to gage her expression.

We walked an entire block in silence, before we finally reached a corner where we had to stop and wait for traffic. Max was looking down at her feet again, but she kept swallowing and pursuing her lips like she was getting ready to say something.

"Why didn't you say anything?" she asked finally.

When I looked over at her, she was still looking down. People around us starting moving as the sign on the crosswalk changed, but Max and I stood still. I shifted my briefcase and Max looked up at me, her eyes level.

"I didn't think you would want me to," I answered.

She laughed once, before looking away from me and rolling her eyes. "Right."

"What was I supposed to say Max?" I asked delicately, trying not to get upset, but also trying not to make Max any more upset than she already was.

"Oh I don't know, maybe something like, 'Hey I heard what happened and I just wanted to make sure you were ok.'"

"Nudge didn't seem to think that was the best idea," I said, and Max's eyebrows rose.

"Excuse me?"

I sighed, looking away for a second. Max crossed her arms over her chest. Over her shoulder I saw a middle-aged woman giving us both a glance over, and I could tell people were trying to eavesdrop on our conversation.

"I came to New York that week," I started, my eyes focused on the skyscraper above Max's head.

"What," Max said flatly.

"Nudge didn't want me to see you."

"Well that was probably a good idea," Max scoffed, and I looked at her briefly.

"I don't see what the problem is."

"Fang," she started, giving me a fake laugh. "You _knew _about what happened, and you _knew_ I was upset, and yet you didn't even bother to check in and see how I was doing. How do you think that feels?"

"I didn't want to make things worse," I said with a sigh.

"Well you basically did."

Max turned around again, so she was facing the street, her arms still crossed in front of her as if she was gripping onto a life vest. I gritted my teeth, wanting so desperately to apologize to her but knowing that nothing I said was even adequately close to what she deserved.

The crosswalk sign signaled we could cross the street, and we morphed in with the crowd of commuters who were pushing their way down the street, trying to make it to work.

"Max," I said carefully, as we approached the end of the block.

"What."

"Were you ever going to tell me?"

She scoffed. "No."

I stuffed my hands into my pockets.

"I really don't think you needed to know," she continued. "And how was I supposed to even bring it up in conversation? Send you an email? 'Oh, and PS: I might have tried to kill myself the other day while I was wallowing in my misery being in a new city that I completely hated and knowing that you didn't want to get back together.' That would've gone over well."

I cringed at her response that was dripping with sarcasm, and she didn't miss it.

"Fang, listen. I'm fine. Really. Don't worry about me."

I didn't answer her. I didn't trust the words that would come out of my mouth.

"It's not a big deal," she said again.

"It is a big deal."

"No, it's not. Promise."

I gritted my teeth again, hating how she was the one who was reassuring me.

We crossed the next street and had almost made it halfway down the block when I couldn't hold it in any longer.

"Can I do anything?" I asked.

"What?" she said, and when I didn't answer, she continued. "There's nothing you need to do."

I gritted my teeth and saw Max looking up at me out of the corner of my eye.

"It was years ago," she said, in a voice that made her sound a lot younger than she actually was. "I'm over it."

I stopped walking at the corner because I needed to turn down a side street, and Max paused with me, but turned to face me. She pulled the edges of her sleeves over her fingertips and pursed her lips.

"It's not your fault."

I took a deep breath in, and she noticed. Max had always been good at lying, especially when we were younger. She was always the one to get us out of scenarios and situations, and had become a professional exaggerated while lying to the younger kids.

However I was insulted that she would think I wasn't still able to see through her.

"Yes it is," I answered, not looking at her.

She sighed. "It's not your problem."

I swallowed, still looking everywhere else besides her in eyes. That word seemed to slice right through me; _problem._

I didn't know how to respond to that. It didn't want it to be a problem in the first place, but if it was a problem to Max, than it should also be a problem that I need to be concerned about.

I looked down at her. Max's eyes were flat and her lips were pressed in a thin line, but she tried to force a fake smile.

"I'm fine."

"Would you tell me if you weren't?" I asked.

She granted me a genuine smile, but didn't answer me.

"I'm better now," she said instead, taking her hands out of her pockets.

I nodded, only half believing her.

"Look, I need to get going," she said, pointing a finger over her shoulder. "I'll see you later?"

I nodded again, and she pursued her lips. "Cool."

She walked down the street, her hands still in her pockets and her head titling towards the ground. I don't know how long I stood there for; well past the distance I could see her, which was still longer than the average person.

Finally, I forced myself to walk away, but not without bringing the knots forming in my stomach with me.

* * *

><p><strong>[Bleh. I'm encouraging you to write brutally honest criticism of this chapter. Not one of my favorites, but I'm really excited for the next chapter! (It's super long to make up for this one being a bit short.) Expect an upload next Wednesday! The first of May! Whoo!]<strong>


	11. Chapter 11

**[This chapter is crazy long, but I really enjoyed writing it, so I hope you enjoy reading it!]**

* * *

><p><span><strong>Chapter 11:<strong>

Later at night, I was sitting on the couch playing a board game with Nora, while Matt was standing up, leaning against the table with his hands, and constantly throwing the board game pieces to the other side of the coffee table.

"Matty, stop!" Nora screamed for the fifth time. I reached across to the opposite side of the table to grab the piece and put it right back where it had originally belonged.

"Nora," I said and she looked up to me, "he doesn't understand yelling." I repeated what Max always said to her whenever Nora raised her voice at the baby.

"But he can't ruin our game!" she said in all seriousness.

"I know," I said, trying to be sympathetic. "He'll stop when he gets bored."

Reluctantly, Nora sighed and rolled the dice, just as Matt reached his hand across the board.

"Matty!" Nora whined. Quickly, I grabbed Matt's hand before he could reach the pawn, and he looked up at me, before resting it back down to the table.

"Good," I told him, and he squealed and stomped his feet in response.

Nora was still silently sulking but continued to play her turn while Matt stood still, watching intently. Quietly, Nora held out the dice and dropped them into my palm while I thanked her.

Shaking the dice in my hand, I watched as Matt squealed before grabbing my pawn on the table.

"Stop it!" Nora almost screamed, losing her patience. Before I could say anything, Nora's tiny fingers wrapped around Matt's wrist, obviously mimicking my motion before. But I saw how hard she squeezed, and Matt promptly burst into tears.

I dropped the dice and reached over to grab Matt's torso. Nora let go and I hoisted him into my lap. Still crying, he buried his face into my chest and I placed a hand on his back.

"Nora," I said sternly, and she looked at me. In the background I heard the keys clicking in the lock and I knew Max was home.

"That wasn't nice," I said, and she blinked in response. I could tell by the pout of her lips that she knew that squeezing his wrist was wrong, but she stubbornly didn't want to admit it.

"What do you say?" I prompted, hoping for an apology, just as Max walked through the door and into the living room.

"But he was messing up the game! It's not my fault!" she said, without glancing up at Max who stood next to me, crossing her arms.

"Nora," she started calmly, "what happened?"

"Matty was messing up our game! He kept throwing the pieces across the room!"

"Why is he crying?" she said, motioning to Matt who was in my lap while I was rubbing his back. His crying had basically stopped but he was still sniffling in recovery.

Nora looked up at Max without saying anything. Max raised her eyebrows, but Nora stayed silent.

"Nora," she warned, her voice getting sterner.

"I grabbed his hand so he wouldn't throw it," she mumbled looking down.

"Did you grab it too hard?" Max asked, and Nora shrugged.

Max bent down so she was eye level with Nora, except she was still looking down at the ground. "You have to be gentle with babies, Nora. You know better than that."

Nora stayed silent.

"All right, well I think you're done with the game for now. You can finish it later, once you apologize to Matty."

"Mommy," Nora whined, "I was playing with Fang."

"He'll play with you later." Max stood up, while Nora looked from me to Max before huffing and walking away from the both of us and into her bedroom.

Max sighed, before looking at me. She dropped her bag near the end of the couch.

"So besides that squabble, how were they?" she asked.

"Good," I answered honestly. "I picked them up, we walked through the park, Nora ate half a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and then we just played some board games."

Max nodded. "She was hungry?"

"Yeah, but I said we should wait for you to have dinner."

Max sighed again. "I'm too tired," she said. "I'll just order pizza or something."

"Sounds good," I said.

"I can order it now, I guess. Anything special you want?"

I shook my head, just as Matty looked up from my chest with red eyes and a frown.

Max laughed at his expression and her entire face lit up. "Hey, little man," she said, placing her hands on the arm of the couch and leaning forward. "Were you being a trouble maker?"

Matt gripped my shirt and shyly smiled at Max. She leaned forward to kiss his forehead, her hair spilling over her shoulders and brushing against me. I could still smell her shampoo, even though she had showered this morning, and I could hear my heart speed up.

Max pulled away. "I'll go call now," she said, walking into the kitchen.

I leaned back on the couch with Matt in my lap, pulling him to his feet by supporting his waist with my hands. His expression was a strange mixture of still reeling from the pain from the previous experience, and trying to change his mood into a more pleasant one.

I couldn't help but to smile, which made Matt smile as well. He stomped his foot on my thigh, which kind of hurt, so I lowered him back down to sit on my lap. He promptly grabbed my shirt again and lifted it up to his mouth.

Just as I reached down to take it away, Max came back into the room.

"Oh, don't let him chew that," she said, walking over to the couch. She sat down next to me and smiled at Matt.

"What are you doing, silly?" she said, tickling his stomach which made him shriek in delight. Max laughed, and kept doing it, leaning closer and closer to me until our bodies were touching and she leaned across me.

Max suddenly leaned back across the couch, smiled faintly. Matt looked at her expectantly, then looked back up at me, but I was focused on Max.

We didn't speak about our discussion on our way to work a few days ago. It's been about a week and I've been tiptoeing my way around Max whenever we would talk, and I think she was politely trying not to let it drive her crazy. Part of me wanted to bring it up again, and a larger part of me almost wanted to forget about it.

"You all right?" I asked, already knowing what the answer was. The corners of her mouth pulled up in an effort to smile, and she nodded.

"Just tired," she said. "It's been a long day."

I didn't say anything and neither did she for a few moments. From the other room, there was a loud noise that sounded like a collapse of a pile of toys. Max exhaled loudly and closed her eyes, leaning back into the couch.

"I'm not going to even bother," she said.

We stayed like that for a few minutes, Max resting her eyes, leaning against the couch and me with Matt in my lap, slowing bouncing him and he entertained himself with the hem of my shirt. The buzzer to the apartment went off, signally that someone was down at the door to the building. Max stood up slowly and walked away to the entrance to let the pizza delivery man upstairs.

Reappearing next to me, Max bent down and reached into her bag and came back up with her wallet. I watched as she pulled out crumpled singles and bit the inside of my mouth so I wouldn't laugh.

She looked up at me slowly, her eyebrows crinkling when she saw my expression. "What?"

"Nothing," I said, shaking my head.

"Uh," she started slowly. "I hate to ask this, but do you have cash on you? I only have a few singles and I thought I had more…" she trailed off, emptying the contents of her wallet onto the couch.

"Yeah, I got it." I stood up and rearranged Matt to my hip while I walked into the den to get my wallet. I pulled out a few folded bills and called out to Max just as there was a knock on the door.

"How much is it?" I looked out of the entrance way to the den and saw Max at the doorway. I made my way over to them as Max grabbed the two boxes from the man and I handed him the money. Max silently walked past me as I got my change, and closed the door behind him.

"Can you get Nora?" she called from the kitchen, and I obliged, walking into the small bedroom.

Nora was sitting cross-legged on the floor surrounded by a pile of wooden blocks that were her favorite. She was in the middle of lining up blocks in the shape of a square and she looked up at me.

"Dinner's ready," I said, and she smiled at me. Reflexively, I smiled back, glad that she was in a better mood.

"Ok, I'm coming," she announced, standing up and walking past me and out of the doorway.

In the kitchen, Max was standing at the counter, her back towards the three of us, cutting up a slice of pizza for Matt. Nora took a seat in her usual spot and I slid Matt into his high chair. Walking over to Max, I asked if she needed help and she replied with a head shake.

"No," she said. "And I'll pay you back."

"Don't worry about it," I said, meaning it. She didn't respond, but she sighed again, and wiped her hands on her jeans. Grabbing the stack of plates and a box of pizza, she walked over to the table.

I stood by the counter as I watched Max place the two plates in front of her kids, and I knew for sure something was off. Max had been pretty quiet for the few moments she had gotten home, and she was even really patient with Nora when she had hurt Matt, which was unusual for her. The way she walked and sat was almost defeated, and I had been around her enough lately to know that something was wrong.

* * *

><p>Later that night, after Max had closed the door to the kids' bedroom after putting Nora down to sleep, I was setting up the sheets on the couch in the den and I could sense Max standing in the doorway behind me.<p>

"What are you doing this weekend?" she asked me before I had even turned around. I smoothed down the blanket, looking up at her.

"Nothing," I said honestly.

"When's your last day of work?"

"I have a meeting Thursday morning."

"Perfect," Max said with a slight smile. "We're going down to Florida. I'll make our flight reservations for Thursday afternoon."

I paused, straightening up and staring at her. "What?"

Max swallowed. "I want to go down to Florida this weekend. To the house."

"Max, it's Tuesday," I said. "You're leaving in two days?"

Max stared straight ahead at me with a stern look. "Two days is a ton of time."

I crossed my arms over my chest. "Why now?"

She looked down at the floor and shifted her feet. "I, uh," she started but didn't finish.

I waited patiently for her to continue, and I could tell she was uncomfortable with the way she shifted her feet and clenched her hands in her grasp.

"I lost my job," she said quietly.

"Max," I said softly, biting my lip and wanting to reach out to her. Instead I played chicken and stayed in my spot. Max held up her hand.

"Don't," she warned, her voice attempting to be strong and smooth. "Don't say anything."

So I didn't. We were both quiet for a few moments, me watching Max for any sign of movement and Max looking down at the floor, not moving at all except the constant wringing of her hands.

Slowly, I watched as Max brought one hand to her face and held it there in silence for a moment. Carefully, not even sure what I was doing, I walked the short distance between us, and gently grabbed her elbow.

I lead her down so she was sitting on the couch, and she brought the other hand up to her face as well, still just as silent, as I sat down next to her with my sweaty palms constantly rubbing against my knees.

She inhaled a deep breath and rubbed her eyes with her fists before looking at me.

"So, Thursday?" she asked quietly.

I looked at her and had to bite my tongue. I couldn't stand to look at her, knowing that everything she had gone through before now had been completely my fault and now that I was finally here, she was still being hurt in ways that I couldn't even fix.

"Thursday sounds great," I said with meaning, and she burst into tears.

She didn't even try to hide it this time. She bent forward, resting her arms onto her knees, her back shaking and her breathing heavy. Slowly, I placed one hand on the small of her back, listening to her quiet sobs, desperately want to bring her closer to me, but knowing I couldn't.

"What am I going to do?" she whispered between breaths. "I can't afford this."

I started to carefully outline small circles around her back, gently moving across the feathers I could feel beneath her shirt. Her breathing slowed under my hand, and I could tell her short relapse was over.

Her back straightened but I kept my hand there and she looked straight ahead at the wall.

"I can't afford this," she repeated.

"We've been in worse situations," I reassured her. "It'll be ok."

"No it won't," she said. "I barely could afford rent as is with Nudge moving out, and now I definitely won't be able to stay here longer than a month at most. And what about my kids? I don't want them growing up the same way we did."

"It'll be fine," I said. "I can help."

"No," she said stubbornly.

"Max, I can lend you the money."

"_No,_" she said again. "I don't need anything from you."

My hand stopped reluctantly and I blinked. My chest constricted and I swallowed hard.

I knew Max had noticed, because she looked down at her hands, and I saw the muscles in her neck tighten as her entire back stiffened. We were silent for a few minutes, and I couldn't bring myself to say anything or move my hand off her back.

Of course, Max spoke up first.

"I think I might possibly need some help," she said so softly I didn't know if I heard correctly. I didn't responded, but Max sat up straighter.

"My last day is tomorrow," she said in a much stronger voice. "Since they're letting me go on short notice I get a two-week bonus. The husband has to move to the city of his new job transfer by the end of next week, and the wife is quitting her job at the end of this week. So I'll give myself this weekend in Florida before I start job searching again. It'll help that I wasn't fired or let go for a reason of my doing."

I didn't respond, because I could tell by the tone and speed of her voice that she was talking out loud just to reassure herself. I looked at her and she was still staring at the wall in front of her, but she turned to face me.

"I would really appreciate it if you could give me your part of the rent early this month," she said in a very professional tone.

I blinked. "Of course," I said. "I can pay more if you want."

Max shook her head. "No. I just have to think about this. It'll be fine. It's just for a little while."

I didn't say anything, and Max stood up. I followed her; rising as well as she placed her hands on her hips.

"It'll be fine," she repeated, and I couldn't tell if she said it for my sake or hers. "Florida will be fun. I should go call Angel and Gazzy and let them know we're coming."

"All right," I replied.

I watched as she left the room, and listened as the door to her bedroom clicked shut. I sat down on the couch, my hands on my knees as I overheard Max talking cheerfully on the phone to Angel. Even without that little scene before I knew that she wasn't herself, and I knew her well enough by now to realize that something else was on her mind. It wasn't like Max to cry over a job loss, even now.

* * *

><p>"<em>You don't know what you're doing," Iggy warned as he landed on the beach behind me, pulling in his wings.<em>

_"Actually, I do," I said, turning away from him._

_Iggy sighed. "You should at least talk to her or something._

_"I _have_," __I answered._

_"Like a serious conversation? You know how she gets."_

_I turned back around to glare at him, even though it was useless. "Yes. A serious conversation _

_with a very serious answer."__  
><em>

_Iggy bent his head down, and I swallowed hard.__  
><em>

"_You're crazy," he said harshly. "You have no idea what you're doing."__  
><em>

_I crossed my arms. "Yes I do."__  
><em>

"_Well you don't want to do it."__  
><em>

"_You're right," I said, matching my tone to his. "I don't want to do it."__  
><em>

"_Then why are you?" he spat.__  
><em>

_I didn't answer right away, and Iggy crossed his arms.__  
><em>

"_See? You can't even answer me! You're being ridiculous. Get over yourself."__  
><em>

_I stayed quiet.__  
><em>

"_Fang. Take a step back. Think about it. If Ella and I were having this problem I would just talk to her."__  
><em>

_I spoke sternly. "You cannot compare us with you and Ella. Ella actually talks to you about these things, Max doesn't. You're relationship is completely different than mine."__  
><em>

_Iggy sighed heavily. "If Max knew what you were thinking she would answer differently."__  
><em>

_I glared at him. "That's funny, because I remember having numerous conversations about this and Max's answer was basically somewhere along the lines of 'no'."__  
><em>

_Iggy opened his mouth to answer and I cut him off. "And what did Max say to you again?"__  
><em>

_His mouth shut, and I crossed my arms.__  
><em>

"_And what if I had told her the truth?" he asked me.__  
><em>

"_What?"__  
><em>

"_What if I had told her that you wanted to marry her?"__  
><em>

_I held my breath. Iggy smiled smugly and I clenched my fist. I couldn't stand yelling at him like this, and I knew it was because a huge part of my subconscious was telling me he was right.__  
><em>

_But an even bigger part was telling he was way off base.__  
><em>

"_She probably would've laughed."__  
><em>

"_Fang, I sincerely doubt that."__  
><em>

"_You forget that I know her better than you do," I pointed out.__  
><em>

"_Oh yeah?" he said, crossing his arms. "Then tell me, how do you think she's going to react when you tell her? Do you think she's just going to accept this?"__  
><em>

"_No."__  
><em>

"_So you _know_ that Max is going to be beyond upset, and yet you _still _plan on doing this," he said. "That just blows my mind."__  
><em>

"_Do you even think about how I feel right now? Do you think I wanted that answer from her?"__  
><em>

"_You didn't even ask her! Have you ever once said the words "would you marry me?" to her in that exact order?"__  
><em>

"_Yes!"__  
><em>

"_Really? And her answer was...?"__  
><em>

"_She laughed and told me to get real."__  
><em>

_Iggy stood there silently. I breathed heavily, pinching the bridge of my nose with my forefinger and thumb.__  
><em>

"_I still think you're making a mistake," he said softly.__  
><em>

"_Shut up," I said, my eyes still closed. "Just shut up."__  
><em>

_I heard Iggy walk over to me. For the moment, I was glad it had been Iggy that followed me all the way out here to the coast. I knew that this spot was deserted, which was good because no one had heard our conversation.__  
><em>

_And now especially, when no one could see my face.__  
><em>

_I could feel my face growing warmer, and I grinded my teeth in order to make the stinging behind my eyes go away. __  
><em>

_Iggy placed a hand on my shoulder expertly and without missing, and I turned my head away from him, dropping my hand from my face.__  
><em>

"_Seriously. Don't do this."__  
><em>

"_What else I am supposed to do?" I said flatly.__  
><em>

_Iggy didn't answer. Instead he responded with, "I don't agree with this."__  
><em>

"_It doesn't matter what you think of it. It has nothing to do with you."__  
><em>

_His hand dropped from my shoulder. "Are you kidding me? I may not be part of this relationship __that you're just throwing away, but regardless, I live with the both of you. I've seen the way you interact with each other, I _know_ how you feel about each other-"_

"_I don't care," I interrupted. __  
><em>

"_Fang. You love her."__  
><em>

"_Of course I do," I retaliated. __  
><em>

"_So why are you doing this?"__  
><em>

"_I just have to, all right?" I said.__  
><em>

_Iggy rolled his eyes. "You're a freaking idiot. I've spent the last week trying to convince you otherwise and you're too stubborn to even look at it from Max's perspective. Like really. And I'm the blind one here?"__  
><em>

_He crossed his arms. "I've given up. You can do whatever the hell you want. But let me just say one last thing. I am behind Max in every way possible. Every horrible thing she's undoubtedly going to say about you, I'm going to agree with. Because it's _true_**.**__You love her, and you _know_that she is in love with you too, but you're too scared and pathetic to actually have a legitimate conversation with her."__  
><em>

_I took half a step back, blinking at Iggy. __  
><em>

"_And you know what else? I would never, ever, say this about Max, but I hope she cries. I honestly hope she cries, right in front of you. Because I know that would just make you miserable for the rest of your life."__  
><em>

_Iggy spread his wings behind him, and I swallowed hard.__  
><em>

"_And you deserve to be miserable."_

_He took off, leaving me staring at the spot he last stood in, biting my tongue until I tasted blood, and knowing that every last thing he said was correct. I did deserve to be miserable.__  
><em>

_More miserable than I already was._

* * *

><p><em>"Go to hell, Fang."<em>_  
><em>

_I didn't move, but inhaled slowly and shallowly, while Max sat there, glaring up at me from behind her eyelashes.__  
><em>

_She crossed her arms. I didn't know what else to say to her. I had everything carefully planned in my head, but I've never been so nervous in my entire life. My head was spinning and I felt my stomach turning and I couldn't even truly process our conversation.__  
><em>

_Max shifted her weight on the flat rock she was sitting down, leaning forward. "So that's it? That's all you have to say to me?"__  
><em>

_I didn't respond, knowing whatever would come out of my mouth next would probably be bile.__  
><em>

_She stood up slowly, her eyes boring into mine. I turned my eyesight away from her face, knowing I wouldn't be able to handle that. __  
><em>

_I was afraid of what she was seeing. Knowing fully well that I haven't gotten more than an hour of sleep a night for the past two weeks and that this entire conversation had been swirling in my at every waking moment, I probably didn't look up to par.__  
><em>

"_Look at me," she ordered, and I clenched my teeth and looked into her eyes.__  
><em>

_She didn't look upset. After having been dating for almost three years, I would've known upset if I saw it. In her eyes and on her face lacked every trace of hurt or upset possible. __  
><em>

_She was pissed, that much I knew. Her eyes were made of fire and she was glaring at me with every muscle in her face she could possibly even attempt to move.__  
><em>

"_You don't want to do this," she said flatly. "I can tell."__  
><em>

_I didn't respond. __  
><em>

"_So why are you?"__  
><em>

_I swallowed hard. "I just told you."__  
><em>

"_Oh, that's BS Fang. What, you 'don't have confidence in our relationship anymore'? That was it? Really?'__  
><em>

_I looked up at the sky for a second, before grinding my teeth.__  
><em>

"_Tell. Me," she said. __  
><em>

_I looked at her, and I kept swallowing to try and stop my eyes from stinging. __  
><em>

"_You owe me that much."__  
><em>

"_I heard what you said to Iggy."__  
><em>

"_What did I even say to Iggy?"__  
><em>

_I swallowed again. "You told him you didn't want to marry me."__  
><em>

_Max crossed her arms. "Are you freaking kidding me? You're breaking up with me over _that_?__ We're seventeen, Fang! Why is marriage even on your mind?"__  
><em>

"_Why is it so wrong to think of a future with you?" I asked quietly.__  
><em>

_Max didn't answer, but continued to stare at me, her gaze harsher than it was before, if that was at all possible.__  
><em>

"_And this is your only option," she stated calmly. "To just end it."__  
><em>

_I grinded my teeth.__  
><em>

"_Drop it Fang. I can tell how upset you are. Why are you doing this to yourself? We don't have to do this," she said.__  
><em>

_I looked over her shoulder to her right, watching the waves brush the shore in the distance. I could feel her eyes going straight to my soul, and my throat was tightening.__  
><em>

"_Why are you doing this?" she repeated, a little more sternly.__  
><em>

"_I can't," I started, and swallowed before continuing. "I can't..." I trailed off, this time trying to steady my voice. "I can't..." I stuttered again, before inhaling.__  
><em>

_I couldn't. I couldn't do this. I couldn't leave this. I knew I was destroying myself, and I knew that behind her stance, I was probably destroying her too. But I couldn't do it. I couldn't stay with her if it meant that she wasn't sure of where we were going.__  
><em>

"_I just can't," I said finally. Max's face softened into one of a neutral tension. She didn't say anything for a little while, but she continued to look at me, while I was looking everywhere except at her. __  
><em>

_Slowly, Max started to back away from me, and I looked down at my feet. Wordlessly, Max took off, leaving me standing alone on the beach, while I crossed my arms, gripping the sides of my body, and grinding my teeth in frustration.__  
><em>

_I thought back to what Iggy had said, and found myself thinking the impossible.__  
><em>

_I sort of wished Max had cried. I probably deserved that._

* * *

><p><em>"Is Fang still in his room?"<em>

_Nudge's voice floated up to me while I lay in bed. The afternoon light was coming through the window blinds, and I heard muffled voices coming from the other end of the hallway._

"_Probably," Iggy answered her._

"_Should we go talk to him or something?" I heard Angel ask._

"_Whatever. You can. I'm not."  
><em>_  
><em>_I closed my eyes, and turned over in bed, facing the wall. I sighed slowly, hoping they weren't actually going to come in._

_Unfortunately, there was a knock on the door. When I didn't respond, Nudge called, "Fang?"_

_The door cracked open, and I inwardly scolded myself on forgetting to lock it._

"_Fang?" she asked again. "Are you sleeping?"_

_I didn't respond, and kept my eyes closed, hoping she would get the hint._

_The door closed, and I breathed a sigh of relief, rolling onto my back and opening my eyes._

"_I told you he wasn't asleep," Angel said._

_I sighed, looking over at them standing by the doorway. Angel crossed her arms. _

"_Are you going to just hole up in your room forever?" she asked._

_I didn't answer, but took my arms out from underneath the blanket and laid them down by my sides._

"_Look, you've been in your room for a week. That's kind of pathetic don't you think? At least try to make an appearance downstairs once in awhile," Nudge said, coming closer to the bed._

_But that was exactly it. I was pretty pathetic. Max had been all moody for about twenty-four hours, and now she was completely acting all normal and everything, and I was the one who couldn't even get up from bed. It was pretty pathetic._

"_You're not pathetic," Angel said, coming to sit on the edge of the bed. "It was just a figure of speech."_

_I sat up, letting the covers fall around my waist. I ran my hand through my hair._

"_Fang," Nudge said, placing her hands on her hips. "You should get something to eat."_

"_Not hungry," I mumbled, rubbing my eyes._

_Nudge narrowed her eyes. "You haven't left your bed in a week."_

_That wasn't true. I snuck downstairs at night to get food, and went to the bathroom occasionally._

_And besides. The real reason why I hadn't left my bed was because my sheets still smelt like Max._

"_Aw Fang," Angel said, rolling her eyes. "Really? That's why you haven't left your room?"_

_I glared at her, and she gave me a look._

"_Get up."_

"_No," I replied._

"_Look," Angel said. "Max is upset too. Beyond upset."_

_I looked at her. That wasn't making me feel any better._

"_The point is that Max is dealing with it. You're just lying around. Go do something."_

_Max was dealing with it because she is a stronger person than I am, and everyone is on her side. I couldn't even face Iggy, and if I probably ran into Max, which was bound to happen, I would probably fall to pieces._

"_Iggy's not that mad at you," Angel said to me. "I promise."_

"_Yeah," Nudge said. "You know how Iggy gets. He just thinks that you're stupid, but he's pretty worried about you, too. We all are."_

_I looked at her and swallowed. _

"_Please come downstairs," Angel tried. "We're having lunch soon. Max is out flying."_

_I sighed. _

"_Fang you honestly can't stay in here forever," Nudge said. "And besides. You and Max are going to get back together. It's bound to happen. Just give it a few weeks for everything to blow over and then you guys will be like 'oh I just miss you so much' and everything will go back to normal."_

_I looked up at her and she greeted me with a believable smile. I swallowed again._

"_I'll come down tomorrow."_

"_Really?" Nudge asked. "No chickening out."_

"_All right," I agree, and they both smiled._

"_You better. Or we'll come get you and drag you down stairs by your feet," Nudge warned._

"_Ok," I said. _

_Angel got up off the edge of the bed and stood beside Nudge._

"_All right, well I'm going back downstairs. I'm starving," Angel announced, turning towards the door._

"_Yeah, same. You'll be ok, right?" Nudge asked me, and I nodded._

"_Ok," she said, while they both headed back towards the door. "We'll see you tomorrow."_

_They both waved as they shut the door behind them, and I collapsed backwards on the bed with a sigh, and brought the blanket back up to my chin._

* * *

><p>"Hey Fang?"<p>

I turned my head around from my laptop screen, to see Max standing in the doorway, her arms crossed.

"Angel and Gazzy are really excited for us to come down this weekend. Gaz is going to call Iggy to see if they want to come too," she explained.

"All right," I said. "That sounds like a good idea."

"Are you busy right now?"

I looked down at the screen. I had been working on an article that wasn't due until my meeting on Thursday, and I was starting to get pretty tired.

I saved the piece, and shut down my laptop. "Nope.

"Are you sure?" she asked, taking a step in the room.

"Yeah, it's getting late anyway." I sat up on the couch, swinging my legs over the side. I smoothed back the blanket, and Max came and sat down next to me, crossing her legs and leaning against the arm of the couch, so her body was facing me.

I watched as she fumbled with her fingers, until she finally sighed and clasped her hands around her ankles.

"Look, about before—"

I cut her off. "Don't worry about it.'

She blinked at me, and looked back down. "I didn't mean to act like an idiot."

The corner of my mouth curled up. "You weren't."

I could tell by the way that she was avoiding eye contact that something was wrong, but I didn't want to ask so I stayed quiet, knowing that Max probably wouldn't even tell me anyway.

"Are you sure you're ok with going down to Florida this weekend? I don't want to force you," she said uncharacteristically, still looking down in her lap.

"No, it's fine. I want to go," I reassured her.

"I just need a break, you know?"

I nodded in understanding.

Max cleared her throat, her voice getting stronger. "So I'm going to order plane tickets tonight, and I'll let you know what time we can leave on Friday. After the weekend do you have anything on like, Monday or Tuesday?"

"We could leave Thursday night if that's better. And I have another meeting Tuesday morning," I answered.

"Ok, so Thursday night and come back Monday," she clarified and I nodded.

"You sure you don't just want to fly down?" I asked and Max dropped her gaze quickly.

"No," she said curtly, before her voice softened. "It'll take too long and I have the kids you know? It'll just be easier to take a plane."

"All right," I said slowly. "I can get the tickets."

"What?" Max said, sounding surprised. "No, you don't need to do that. I'll buy them."

"Max, plane tickets aren't cheap. I know," I pointed out, reaching for my laptop that I had placed earlier on the coffee table.

"Fang, seriously, I can pay for them. They're my kids."

"Max, it's not a big deal, I can afford it."

"So can I," she pointed out, and I gaze up at her over the laptop screen, which had rebooted, and she narrowed her eyes.

"I'm serious; you don't need to buy my tickets."

"All right," I said in agreement, opening up the Internet. "I'll buy my own."

Max opened her mouth, to protest I'm sure, but I cut her off. "So now you're telling me I can't buy my own?"

She closed it, crossing her eyes, and I smirked at her in victory.

"So what airline do you take?" I asked.

"Whichever one flies in to the airport for the cheapest price," she answered.

"Coach?"

Max raised an eyebrow at me. "No, I fly first class," she said sarcastically and I smiled.

"Maybe I'll get my ticket in first class and the three of you can sit in the business class," I joked, and Max glared at me.

"You're funny," she said dryly.

"I try."

"So try to find a row that has three seats next to each other," Max told me.

"Three?" I confirmed, moving the laptop so I could get up off the couch to grab my wallet.

"Yeah, Matty is young enough to sit in my lap," she said, and I nodded.

"Three is still a lot of seats to ask for two days ahead of time," I pointed out, moving the laptop back to my lap.

Max didn't say anything, but instead looked down as I put in my information into the site, trying to find three seats together.

"Ok, so how about this row?" I said, pointing to the screen. "There are two seats here, and then one directly across the aisle."

Max leaned closer to me, pulling up her knees and bending over towards the screen, her hair spilling over her shoulders.

"Yeah that's perfect," she said, leaning back against the arm of the couch.

I put in my credit card information, selecting the seats I wanted, and waited for the confirmation before I spoke up again.

"Ok, I got the seats," I said.

"What?" Max asked them.

"The seats," I repeated. "I bought them."

"Why is that plural?" she said flatly, and I looked at her with a neutral expression.

"I got three seats," I said. "Don't you speak English?"

"What," she deadpanned, her voice dropping. She stared at me, and I couldn't tell if she was mad, which unnerved me, because I've learned after the weeks of living with her now, that hidden angry Max was way worse than vocal angry Max, unlike how it had been when we were teenagers.

I didn't say anything, but I watched her carefully, until she brought her hand up to her face, placing her elbow on her leg and leaning her head down.

"You didn't need to do that," she mumbled.

"I wanted to," I said honestly.

"Why?"

I shrugged, even though she wasn't looking at me. "Think of it as an early Christmas gift."

She looked up at me from behind her hand, and I couldn't help to laugh at her expression.

"I'm not a charity case," she said, her voice quiet.

I swallowed. "I know," I said. "I'm just trying to help you out."

"I don't need help," she said, stubbornly, and I raised an eyebrow at her.

"Max," I started. "The polite thing to do would've been to thank me and be grateful for it. Not to complain," I mentioned, lightly.

She sighed, and we were both quiet for a moment.

"Ok well," she said, rubbing her hands on her knees. "Thanks," she said.

I smiled at her. "You're welcome."

She looked down at her hands. "This is pretty pathetic don't you think?" she said with a slight laugh.

"What is?"

"The fact that I'm getting financial help from _you_."

I swallowed and turned back to my computer screen, starting to shut it down.

"I would hardly call if financial help," I said, ignoring the rush of heat that made its way up my neck. "I just bought you plane tickets."

I could feel Max's eyes on me as I placed my computer back onto the coffee table and leaned back on the couch.

"Did I upset you?" she asked.

"What?" I asked surprised.

She looked at me, staying silent, her hands wringing her fingers.

Max sighed, looking back down.

"Well," she started after a few minutes of awkward silence. "I think I'm going to bed."

"All right," I said, watching as she stood up. "You'll be ok?"

Max paused, her back towards me. She turned around with a slight smile. "Of course."

I smiled back, which made the corners of her mouth curl up.

"Thanks," Max said, walking past me and towards the doorway.

"It's really no big deal," I said.

Max turned again so her whole body was facing me and nodded. "Well, good night Fang," she said, and without even waiting for a response, she walked resolutely out of the room and into the living, but paused once she made her way through the doorway.

* * *

><p><strong>[Things are starting to get fun! :]] I can't wait for the next few chapters, they're awesome (in my humble opinion). Let me know what you thought. Next chapter will be up next Wednesday!]<strong>


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